Cave of the Snow Bear
by Arianna18
Summary: This is a Young Herc/Iolaus story set just before graduation from the Academy. It's been referred to in a few other stories on this site and some readers have requested it. This story as well as others not here are available at the IolausianLibrary dot org


**The Cave of the Snow Bear**

**by ****Arianna**

Acknowledgement: _I would like to thank Melinda for allowing me to reference a key moment in the young lives of Hercules and Iolaus, from her story, A Loss of Innocence._ The final assignment from the Academy tests Hercules and Iolaus beyond anything they have ever before experienced...and has impacts that will effect them for the rest of their lives.

**Chapter One: The Journey Begins...**

"Herc, this is great! GREAT! Finally, an assignment that I can do...that's FUN! Finally, no books, no studying! A WHOLE MONTH!" Iolaus was almost dancing, he was so happy to be heading out of the Academy into the mountains. Herc grinned as he listened to his partner... 'Yeah, this should be great,' he thought, but he was glad to have Iolaus with him. This assignment, their last at the Academy, might not be as simple as it seemed...a month in the wilderness, applying all of their skills...his mind drifted back to the day before yesterday when Chiron had met with the senior class to announce this assignment.

"Attention, everyone!" Chiron was standing just inside the doors to the exercise hall at the Academy. The students were all engaged in various physical activities, from fighting with staffs on the balance beam, to climbing ropes, to wrestling on the mats, to sword practice. The noise level in the hall was, as usual, at a frightful level, filled with the good natured shouts, taunts and teasing of young men, and one young woman, as they exercised their lithe young bodies and finely honed the skills they had spent the last few years learning. Yet, despite the levity and the sounds of exertion, Chiron, as always, was able to capture their attention without raising his voice. It was a trick of his, that capacity to pitch his voice in a manner that carried above all other sounds and caught the attention of everyone in the great hall, even those in the furthest corners. There were eighteen students in this group...eighteen who were coming to the end of their time here at the Academy.

"Gather around, I have something to say to all of you." There was some friendly shoving as the students gathered in the open area before Chiron, but it didn't take long for everyone to settle down, for silence to fall, as all gave their full attention to the centaur.

"In two days, you will begin your final assignments as students of this Academy." Chiron paused and looked meaningfully at each student, ensuring their focused attention. "The purpose of this assignment is to test what you have learned in the years you have spent here." He suppressed a smile as he heard one cadet, a tousled blond haired youth, barely suppress a groan at the word, 'test'. Chiron threw a quick glance at the youth and held his eyes while continuing, "But, this is not an ordinary test. This is not a theoretical test, but a practical one...not to test your memories, but to test your skills, your knowledge...perhaps even your courage and spirit."

They were a disparate lot...most were from well to do families, from royalty or from the lineage of proud military families. One was the half mortal son of a god, another was an ex-thief. One was a young woman who had come to learn the arts of battle after her family, and her village, had been wiped out. Not all were friends, but all were comrades...and all were as ready as he could make them for this final challenge.

"In two days, you will begin a kind of quest...not a quest to obtain an object, but a quest to find yourselves, to find your inner sources of strength, and to learn your level of commitment to your comrades." There was a bit of shuffling and a few sidelong glances. 'What was Chiron getting at?' each wondered. In the way of youth, each believed he, or she, already knew themselves, knew who they were and what they could do...and all had more than once stood by other cadets in any number of crises over the years. Chiron well knew that these thoughts were running through their young, and as he fully understood, as yet immature minds. He allowed a slight smile to grace his stern countenance.

"You will set out from the Academy in pairs to a location which will be given to you individually...each pair will head in a different direction, toward a different place. You will take a minimum of gear because this test is, in part, one of survival. As you travel to your destination and back, you will make a map that others could use as if you were a scouting patrol for an army unit...your report will need to take into consideration such matters as barriers to be overcome, possible locations of ambush, strategic objectives and the logistics of moving and feeding a force of one hundred. You will have one month to accomplish this assignment." Again, there was some shuffling, 'a month?' many thought...no way would any assignment take a month...would it?

As Chiron spoke, he noticed the blond cadet become increasingly cheerful until a wide grin was lighting up his face. 'Yes,' he thought, this assignment is more the kind of test that young Iolaus would not only enjoy but thrive upon. He was the most able of the entire group of cadets to survive in the wilderness...Iolaus had been a hunter long before he was either a thief or a cadet. This was one of the reasons that Chiron had determined that his task, along with Hercules who would no doubt be his partner, would be the most taxing, potentially the most dangerous. The other reason for this decision was Hercules himself...while not as skilled in the wilderness, as the son of Zeus, he had capacities beyond those of the average cadet, and he still had much to learn about his gift of superhuman strength. Chiron had no doubt of their combined capacity to succeed...he was certain all of the cadets could successfully complete their assignments. If he had doubts, he would not send them. But, this assignment sounded a lot easier than it would prove to be...for all of them. Of that, he was certain.

"You will not be told what to take with you...part of this test is to determine your capacity to plan, to anticipate your needs so that you take only what you require and no more. Travelling with unnecessary gear over great distances is a drain on energy which none of you will want to experience. But, finding yourself without something essential could lead to grave consequences. Each team will provide me with a list of what you are taking with you before you leave."

As his glance fell again on Iolaus, he noted that the young cadet was looking particularly smug and was in the process of giving a thumbs up sign to his friend, Hercules. Over-confidence was one trait that would be sorely tested over the next few weeks. Before this assignment was over, Chiron had no doubt that each cadet in the hall would have a much deeper sense of their own capacities and limitations. Each would better understand what they could do for themselves and when they would have to rely upon and trust their partner.

"So, pair up and come forward to receive your individual assignments." Again, there was shuffling and the noise level rose as cadets chose one another for this last test. One by one, each team moved forward to Chiron and he handed each a destination. One of the first pairs to form, no surprise given that they were known to be best friends and had been from the earliest days of their time in the Academy, were Hercules and Iolaus. The shorter member of the team was almost strutting as he came forward. Hercules, as was his wont, had a more cautious demeanor...he was certain that Chiron would not be sending them on a cakewalk.

"Hercules, Iolaus...here is your destination...the cave of the Snow Bear near the summit of Mount Orion...any questions?" Iolaus' grin had faltered a bit when he heard their destination. Mount Orion was in the heart of the mountains south of Corinth, deep in the Peloponnese. It was known to be a forbidding peak, covered in snow all year long with steep ridges and treacherous climbs. The Snow Bear was, he thought, more a legend than a reality so it wasn't this part of the assignment that worried him overmuch...except he wasn't entirely sure how they would find the cave of something he wasn't certain existed in the first place. Maybe there were bears in the mountains, but Iolaus really didn't believe in the mythical incarnation of Orian in the guise of the great Snow Bear. However, something must be there or Chiron wouldn't be sending them...and whatever it was, Iolaus was perfectly certain that he and Herc could find it. As far as Iolaus was concerned, there wasn't much that he and his friend, together, could not do.

"No questions," responded Iolaus, "Herc?" he asked as he turned to his partner. "No," Herc smiled gently, "it all seems pretty straightforward...so we have the rest of today and tomorrow to make our preparations?"

"That's right," responded Chiron, "and don't forget to give me the list of what you will be taking with you."

The young men nodded and headed out of the great hall, heads together, already deeply engaged in the debate of what they would be needing.

A day later, Iolaus was calling out their inventory while Herc did the recording for Chiron's records. "The roads and trails between here and there are not particularly safe," mused Iolaus, "so we have two swords, two knifes, two spears, a bow and some arrows for hunting (which will also come in handy if we ever meet up with the _Snow Bear_)," Iolaus could not hide the slightly sarcastic tone of the unbeliever whenever he mentioned their target.

"I don't know, Iolaus, there must be something up there...it's an old legend and we both know that most legends have some basis in fact."

"Well, sure, there'll be an old cave, probably an ancient shrine to Orion that was tended by some long dead hermit...but a _Snow Bear_ c'mon, gimme a break." Iolaus shook his head and gave a skeptical grimace while Herc with a shrug went back to his job as scribe. "Okay, got all that. What's next?"

"Hmm, let's see. There will be snow on the mountains, so two blankets and two capes, for when the wind blooooows coooollllddddd," Iolaus kidded and Herc looked up with a grin before continuing with the notetaking. Iolaus continued the inventory, "three hundred feet of rope for climbing and a grappling hook...some of those cliffs may be a bit of a challenge," he mused, as he continued itemizing the equipment and supplies laid out on Herc's bunk. "A small cauldron for boiling water and making tea and a teeny tiny tripod to hang it on. Two metal bowls, two cups and two spoons...we can use our hunting knives for eating. A needle and thread," Herc looked up, "Planning on doing some dressmaking, Iolaus?" he queried, all innocence.

"No, Herc, no _dressmaking_, but we may need to repair our kit or, maybe even ourselves. You know as well as I do how easy it can be to get a gash that needs a stitch or two...and where we're going, there won't be any healers handy."

As Herc nodded and went back to the writing, Iolaus continued, "a small container of salve for cuts and scratches, various herbs in case one of us catches cold," Herc snorted at this and Iolaus just gave him a pained look. As a demigod, Hercules rarely, if ever, got sick but Iolaus seemed to be prone to every cold that wandered into the Academy.

Without further comment, Iolaus continued, "assorted cloths to wrap our hands if they get cold, a pen and packet of dried ink and some parchment for the maps and notes we have to make, one half pound packet of jerky...but, we probably won't need that. We can hunt for whatever food we need...or fish, a dozen fishing hooks and twenty feet of fishing line...surely in a month's worth of time, we'll be able to stop by the odd stream to catch our daily food! A ball of twine for snares. Two waterskins. A piece of oiled linen canvas eight feet by six feet for shelter from rain (or, the gods forbid, snow!). And two packs, to divide up all this stuff for ease of carrying. That's it."

Herc nodded silently and finished up the inventory notes. "Three hundred feet of rope...that's an awful lot. It'll be heavy to carry." Herc mumbled as he read over the list.

Iolaus heard him and chuckled, "Well, lucky for me, carrying heavy stuff is really no big deal for you, is it?"

Herc flicked him a sidelong look and a shrug as he continued to review the list. "You don't think we need to take more food? You know how much you like to eat, Iolaus..."

Iolaus just gave his buddy a pained look, "Food? Fooood? Herc, my friend, we are headed to the great outdoors...food will be all around us, just waiting to be caught or picked or dug up. Trust me, buddy, the one thing we don't have to take is food." Herc grinned again, grateful that he was teamed up with Iolaus for this assignment. No one was better at surviving in the wilderness, at finding hidden game trails or at hunting. Iolaus had been born an outdoorsman, a hunter. It was a big part of who he was...and he was never happier than when he could escape civilization and just get away. For a gregarious, outgoing, sociable guy, Iolaus sure loved the solitude of the unclaimed wilderness.

"Iolaus, have you ever been up into the mountains before?"

Iolaus shook his head, "Nope, not so far. Never got that far from home...except when we went through the passes coming to Corinth from Sparta, but I was only about four at the time. Don't remember much about the trip to tell you the truth. Just that it was long." Long was right, but Iolaus was not about to go into details about that march from hell. His father, true to form, had pushed his family as if they had been seasoned infantry. His mother was carrying his baby sister and Iolaus had had to carry a pack that was just about as big as he was. If he tarried to watch a rabbit or a fox, if he stumbled or fell back at all, his father was smacking him across the head, bellowing for him to keep up. Real piece of work, his Dad. Well, at least it had taught him endurance early...even when you knew you couldn't go a step further, you did, because there just wasn't any choice. A hard lesson, but one worth learning. His face had clouded a bit as he remembered that journey and he became conscious that Herc was watching him with some concern, so he flashed his famous grin, "It'll be fun, Herc. Just you and me and the great outdoors. You'll see."

"I'm sure I will, Iolaus, I'm sure I will," Herc agreed as they both finished packing their knapsacks and he slapped Iolaus on the back as they turned to go to the dining hall.

At dinner that night, everyone was comparing assignment destinations and arguing about what was needed, and what wasn't, for each particular trip. Iolaus listened with a bit of bemusement. Some of them were planning to haul most of their worldly goods and half the inventory of the Academy kitchen...that would last about half a day and they would start jettisoning gear as they walked. Some hadn't thought about twine for snares, the needle or thread. He did suggest these things but others, less skilled in wilderness living, didn't really see the point.

Iolaus didn't push...they would learn. He had and it hadn't killed him. He felt at ease, contented...a feeling he hadn't often experienced at the Academy. He'd never gotten over the feeling that he really didn't fit in here, and book learning definitely was not his strength. But this, this he could do...and do well. And enjoy. Yes, life was good, very good indeed. Herc quietly watched his friend, knowing without conversation much of what was going on under all that unruly, curly blond hair. Iolaus was right, this would be fun...most things were when he was along.

Chiron was at the Academy gates the next morning at dawn, collecting the written inventories as the teams set out on their adventures. He kept his face schooled, not letting on that he thought some were struggling already under unnecessary weight. The problem wasn't just that they were taking too much...it was that they would discard gear when tired of carrying it...not the best time for reasoned judgment about what might be needed and what was extraneous. At that point, many would discard essentials just to lighten their loads. Ah well, they would learn. The assignments, while rigorous and not without hazard, were not designed to be life threatening. He wasn't surprised that the least loaded down were Hercules and Iolaus, but when he glanced at their list, he noted everything that he himself would take...and nothing that he wouldn't. Good planning...they were off to a good start.

Herc and Iolaus were unaware that Chiron looked after them thoughtfully as they started on their trek. Was he wrong to send them? He had sent a pair of cadets several years ago and they had returned unscathed ...but, then, they had not faced the challenge either. A hunter's skill was required...and strength. But, most of all, this challenge required courage...and heart. Chiron was as certain as he could be that he had sent the two most able cadets he had to take on this particular challenge. Sighing, he lowered his head...he knew there was real danger ahead of them. 'Look after them, Artemis.' he thought, 'I send them at your request.' Chiron was distracted from his thoughts as more pairs of cadets came to the gates to hand him their lists. By the time he looked again, Hercules and Iolaus had disappeared over the crest of the hill.

And so, here they were, striding out across rolling fields, heading toward the forests at the base of the mountains beyond. Iolaus' good spirits were unbounded and contagious. He sang, told stories and joked. He reminisced about the first time they had gone hunting together...he was eight and Herc had been six when Iolaus had begun teaching him his 'old hunter's tricks'. Iolaus had tought him how to start a fire by chipping two pieces of flint against each other over a small pile of dried grass. Then, they had caught a rabbit in a snare Iolaus had taught Herc to lay. Hercules had never forgotten that sense of amazement, that sense of marvel that this friend of his could teach him to do such incredible things.

In Herc's young mind, Iolaus could do anything. He was smart and confident. He was funny. He knew so much really neat stuff...it seemed as if there was nothing he didn't know, especially about animals and plants, the seasons, how to read the weather...he could fish, hunt, trap, clean and cook what he caught. Well, maybe his cooking hadn't been great, but, hey, when you're a kid around a campfire, anything was ambrosia. Iolaus was his best friend, and, for a lonely lad like Hercules had been, friendship was the most magical gift of all.

Over the years, Herc had caught up...he'd grown taller, he was more comfortable with the kind of learning that gets done in a school than Iolaus would ever be. He'd seen his friend's confidence shaken by life...and he knew more than Iolaus realized about the veneer of bravado he had adopted to cover the insecurities anyone would feel if they'd experienced what Iolaus had at the hands of his father. Iolaus had shared some, not much, of what that had been like.

Herc would never forget what he'd overheard one night after he and his mother had found Iolaus beaten, broken and bloody in their barn...Iolaus claimed it had been a horse, and had stuck to that story. But, Herc had overheard him, in his pain and despair, confiding to Herc's mother, Alcmene, what had really happened and why. Ever since, Hercules had understood that his friend was vulnerable, that Iolaus carried painful secrets. Hercules had also understood that his friend was brave. So, while he didn't carry the same image of Iolaus as he had when he was six, he still believed that Iolaus could do anything he had a mind to do...and he still felt lucky to have been chosen by Iolaus to be his best friend.

And so, the first three days of their month passed with relative ease. They'd left the rolling fields behind after the first day and for two days after that they had passed through the forest, following paths made by animals, so the going wasn't hard. Before the second day was out, the paths had steepened as they began the ascent up into the mountains. In the evenings, Iolaus caught either rabbits or fish for their dinners while Herc sought out tubers to roast with the meat. Throughout the days, both picked herbs and berries...once they left the forests behind and moved into the rocky heights, there would be less bounty waiting on the ground. At night, they would spread their blankets on either side of the campfire and by the third night, they had needed to pull out their capes...as they went higher, the nights got cooler. Each evening, Herc would update their map and they would debate the notes they had to make about how a hundred men could be outfitted and supplied to follow their path...how a hundred men could be accommodated in the clearings and by the streams in their camps.

Those halycon days of their youth were, in a word, idyllic. The weather had cooperated, remaining clear and mild. They had not run into bandits and the paths Iolaus had chosen held few challenges, no real hazards. They were lulled into believing that, perhaps, this assignment really would be easy...more a holiday than a test. They were young and strong, in that stage between adolescence and manhood. They felt invincible.

On the fourth day, they came out of the forests and began the long, hard climb to the summit of Mount Orion. At first, it was just increasingly steep walking, stretching the muscles on the backs of their legs, having to grab for handholds every once in a while to lever up over rocks in their path. However, before the fourth day was out, they had had to really climb, using the rope to anchor one another, using the grappling hook where they needed to climb up and over sections that lacked hand and toe holds. By the end of that day, both had experienced the burn of the rope as they lost footing and slid a few feet before regaining their ground...the rags and salve Iolaus had brought got good use that night and again the next day, protecting their palms as they climbed higher.

Both Iolaus and Hercules had noticed the temperature had dropped faster than they had climbed and the wind had a cutting edge. The warmth of the sun was blunted by the clouds that had begun gathering around the peak, which was no longer visible from their position on the mountain. As the fifth day lengthened, it seemed to darken early, the clouds became heavier and the gusts of wind tried to push them off ledges. It was cold, colder than either of them had ever experienced before. Their hands became numb, which made climbing harder...and slower, more treacherous. Both knew that snow was on the way...and they were still at least a day from the top of the mountain.

There was less shelter at these heights. Last night, they had camped on a fair sized ledge and they'd made a fire from the sticks they had gathered in the forest, knowing that kindling and fuel would be harder to find on the rocky heights. But, if it was going to snow, they would need to find better shelter...even if it didn't snow, they had to get out of the wind. Iolaus, still in the lead as the pathfinder, stopped just before twilight. Both were puffing from exertion and the sweat they had worked up from the climb chilled on their skin as soon as they stopped.

"We need to get out of this wind," Iolaus said with a shiver, as he hugged himself, warming his hands under each arm. "Damn, it's cold." Herc nodded as he blew on his hands and both scanned the mountain face for a likely camp site.

"There," said Iolaus, "up there to the right...do you see it? The overhang above what looks like a niche or chimney in the side of the mountain."

"That's it?" Herc looked at the site and thought the ledge looked awfully narrow, and the niche would scarcely block the wind.

"Sorry, Herc, but I don't see any other likely options...and it's getting dark. We need to stop soon."

Hercules sighed and nodded. This was definitely not as much fun as it had been two days ago. But, then, if Chiron had thought it would all be fun and games, he would not have sent them here. They laboured up the last few yards, hands almost frozen, the wind a constant blast of ice, tearing at their hair, biting through their capes and clothing, biting to the bone. Iolaus clambered onto the ledge and reached down to give his buddy a last hand up. They both fell back against the mountain wall, crowding into the shallow chimney, sheltered by the overhang and the edge of the mountain at the end of their ledge that helped block the wind.

"Whew! This isn't as easy as it looked from down there," called Herc over the moan of the wind, gesturing to the forest a thousand feet below.

Iolaus took a quick glance down and then an even quicker glance away as he felt the vertigo of the sheer drop. "You're not supposed to look down, Herc."

"Why not?"

"Because it makes you dizzy, because it's scary, because it's bad luck...how should I know, why not? It's just something I heard," snapped Iolaus.

Hercules was taken aback by the sharp response and Iolaus didn't miss the surprised and irritated look Herc threw back at him...Hercules hadn't said anything that warranted such testiness.

"I'm sorry, Herc, it's just so damned cold. I hate this," and stealing a quick glance down again, "and I'm not that happy being this far up..." Iolaus shuddered, both from the cold and from the thought of plummeting a thousand feet down onto the trees far below. Hercules did not feel the cold as much as did Iolaus...something to be said for being half divine. But, heights weren't really his thing either, so he could readily understand Iolaus' point. With a nod, he began fishing in his pack as did Iolaus. Out came the kindling and flint, cauldron and tripod, the herbs, some rabbit, two tubors, the oiled linen canvas sheet and blankets. Within ten minutes, they had rigged a shelter, started the fire, had tea brewing, were wrapped in blankets and were gradually getting a bit warmer.

"How much farther do you think it is, Iolaus?"

Iolaus shrugged, "No more than a day, providing we don't get much snow...if we do, we may need to cling to this ledge until the storm passes. Once we get near the summit, we'll need to look for the cave of the famous Snow Bear...hopefully it won't be hidden by drifts from this storm."

Herc thought about that and, as he saw the first fat flakes of snow begin to blow past their shelter, he mused, "You know, I think this could be a whole lot tougher than we thought...do you think the others are having similar experiences."

Iolaus snorted, "No, I doubt that any of them will find their assignments quite as challenging as this."

When Herc threw a puzzled look at this friend, Iolaus explained, "Well, think about it, Herc. Here you are, a demigod with the strength of that mythical hundred soldiers we're supposedly scouting for...and Chiron knows that I practically grew up in the wild. He said this would be a test...he wouldn't have given us something that would be too easy. That means he had to have given us tougher assignments than the others, right?"

Herc thought about this as he knawed on a rabbit leg. "Yeah, makes sense, I guess. So...you really don't think there's a Snow Bear?"

"No," returned Iolaus, with exaggerated patience, "I don't think there's a Snow Bear, or snow cubs...just plain snow." He shivered with disgust as he watched the flakes outside their makeshift shelter blur into the makings of a mini blizzard. "Damn, it's cold," he muttered.

That night, for the first time, they had to adjust their sleeping arrangements. In part, because there wasn't room in their modest shelter to sleep on either side of the fire, but mostly because the cold was forcing them to share body heat. One blanket on the ground to blunt it's frozen chill, the other blanket and their capes heaped over them, with Iolaus curled facing the fire and Herc behind him, against the mountain wall, they huddled under their coverings, out of the wind. Herc could feel Iolaus shivering so he put his arm around his friend and pulled him close, trying to give him as much warmth as possible. Iolaus tensed at first, resisting the closeness but with a sigh, acknowledged that such arrangements were only sensible and gradually relaxed into sleep.

When they woke the next morning, the wind had died, and the sun, not yet visible, was nonetheless casting a pale rose glow to the sky. The world beyond their modest shelter was white. Shivering, and without leaving the shelter of blanket and cloaks, Iolaus groped the ledge beyond his head to find the sticks of wood he had put there the night before. He laid them on the fire and gently blew at the glowing coals to encourage a flame. Once it was going, he reached for his waterbag, filled the cauldron, added herbs from his sack, and set the cauldron on the tripod over the fire. He huddled back under the blanket in the shelter of Herc's arm waiting for the tea to brew.

He could tell Herc was still asleep...his friend rarely woke as early or as quickly as did Iolaus. Something to be said for an uncertain childhood, Iolaus thought. You learned to sleep lightly and get out of the house early, to avoid confrontation, to avoid...but, he resolutely turned his mind from those memories. It was a long time ago...it had been at least four years since the last time his father had beaten him...and now, he would never beat Iolaus again. That part of his life was definitely over. Skouros had died six months before.

Shaking off these memories, Iolaus gazed past the fire to the drifts of snow out on the ledge. He'd soon have to venture out to see if they could make any progress at all that day. He shivered at the thought...gods, he didn't like this cold. It was worse than anything he had ever experienced before. It made his reactions sluggish, his grip uncertain because his fingers were constantly numb. It was exhausting...the shivering alone seemed to eat up half his energy. 'Ah well, Iolaus,' he thought to himself, 'it's all just part of the test. It's uncomfortable, but so what? It's not really that hard to take, right? Right.' and with that thought, he eased himself out from under Herc's arm, dragged the top cloak over his shoulders, sat up, poured the tea and prepared to face the day.

"Hey, Herc, wake up sleepy head!" Iolaus called as he nudged his partner. "I've been up for hours!" he lied, shamelessly.

"Huh? What?" mumbled Herc as he came awake and stretched against the stiffness of sleeping in one position throughout the long, cold night. "Why didn't you wake me earlier?"

"Not much point," replied Iolaus. "We can't go far in the dark! Here, have some tea," he offered cheerfully, as if waking on the edge of a mountain half buried by the snow outside their shelter was an every day occurrance. Herc, recognising bravado when he saw it, just grinned and accepted the tea gratefully. They munched on some berries and more rabbit (Herc could see that he would soon tire of leftover roast rabbit!) and then Iolaus crawled out from under their canvas to inspect the world.

The sun had come up enough to lend dazzling sparkles to the snow, but was not yet strong enough to create a blinding glare. His breath created a billowed cloud in front of his face as Iolaus gazed out at the brilliant whiteness that surrounded them, at the crystal blue of the cloudless sky and the contrast of green from the forest below. It _was_ beautiful, he thought, and it felt as if he could see forever. And then he shivered, "Damn, it's _cold_!" he muttered as he stepped away from the chimney and examined the upper reaches of the mountain, his practiced eye seeking a likely path, considering the extra challenge and hazard of the ice and snow. They would need to go slow today, testing each grip and foothold. They would need to stay roped together at all times so one could anchor the other if one slipped. But, he decided, it was doable...and it wasn't likely to get better as the day went on. Might as well get at it.

Turning back to the shelter, he flipped the canvas from the rocks he had anchored it with the night before.

"Hey!" exclaimed Hercules, as he blocked his eyes against the sudden glare of bright whiteness. Iolaus just giggled, "Up and at 'em, big guy, the day's awastin'. Let's go find us a cave!"

Herc laughed back...no doubt about it, Iolaus' enthusiasm and good spirits were always catching. Together they packed their gear, threw their packs over their shoulders, settled the capes on their shoulders and roped themselves together. Iolaus pointed out the route they would be taking and led off. It was hard going, just as he had expected it to be. Stretch, grab a hand hold, find a toe hold, lift, stretch, grab a hand hold, find a toe hold, lift...relentlessly, and by late morning, it was only grim determination that let them carry on. The young men did not talk as they climbed, saving their energy and concentration for the task of climbing. It was harder to breathe at this altitude, the air was thinner. It was slow going, hands numb, muscles protesting, bones frozen. More and more frequently, they had to pause for long moments, clinging to the mountain side, to catch their breath, breathe warmth into their cupped hands and ease their muscles. But, they forged on. By midafternoon, they had reached the crest, a modest plateau at the top of the world, at the foot of the final, triangle shaped, snow covered pinnacle of stone at the top of Mount Orion.

Exhausted, bending over, resting hands against their thighs, they both panted from the exertion and the lack of oxygen but both were nevertheless exhilerated by their achievement. Stretching their backs, they looked out across the world and Iolaus stretched his arms wide, "We made it, Herc!" he crowed, "It's all downhill from here!" and he laughed from the sheer delight of being alive. Hercules clapped his hand on Iolaus' shoulder, echoing, "Yeah, we made it! Let's find the cave and get off this mountain!" Iolaus laughed again, nodding, "I'm with you, Herc, the sooner we start down, the sooner we'll find some place warm again!" And, so, in high spirits, feeling as if they had conquered the world, the friends turned, looked across the plateau and stopped as if they had run into a wall.

**Chapter Two: Tests of Courage**

"Iolaus," murmured Hercules, having found his voice first, "those look like very, VERY large tracks." Iolaus nodded and frowned as he studied the prints in the snow before them. His eyes followed the tracks as they curved and disappeared around the edge of the pinnacle of snow and stone. "Iolaus? What kind of animal..."

"A large animal, Herc, a very VERY large animal," he murmured back...wondering just where this large animal was, and what it was. He couldn't believe the evidence before his eyes. It just wasn't possible...but they looked like bear tracks. Big bear tracks. The brute had to be at least twenty feet tall and weigh a couple of tons to make tracks like that. It wasn't possible...but the tracks were there, in front of them. The tracks were real.

This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. It was spring. It had been a late winter storm, hopefully the last of the year. If this was a bear, then it had just woken up from a long winter sleep...it would be hungry and so far, the only food Iolaus could see on the top of this mountain was the two of them. Not good at all. Looking over at Hercules, Iolaus could see the alarm in his friend's eyes. Herc wasn't a hunter. Oh, he could track, sort of, trap, sometimes...but big game? The biggest thing they had ever tackled together was the odd stag when they were out deer hunting in the fall. Stags didn't attack. They didn't fight back. They didn't eat people. Nope, not at all good.

Iolaus heaved a sigh. "It's a bear, I think, but it's gotta be the biggest damn bear anybody has ever seen." This did not reassure Hercules who swallowed hard and kept an eye out in case the bear chose that moment to lumber back into view. He tensed and felt slightly sick. He was scared. All they had was a couple of spears and a couple of swords, a bow and a few arrows. If that thing came back...and attacked...would it be enough? He didn't need to ask in words...the look in his eyes said it all as he turned back to Iolaus, deferring to his friend's skill and experience as the hunter.

"Do you think it's the Snow Bear?" Herc asked softly.

Iolaus threw a look as if to say, 'Give me a break,' but then he paused, looked again at the tracks and shrugged. "I honestly don't know, Herc," he finally admitted, "maybe it is. The question now is, do we go forward or go back?"

"Go back?" Herc repeated, "Now that sounds like a plan!"

Iolaus grinned at the hopeful tone in his friend's voice. "Yeah, but Herc, if we go back, we won't have found the cave and we will have failed the test."

"Unless the test is more about exercising good judgment than it is about following instructions blindly," Hercules responded dryly. He tightened his lips and unconsciously raised his jaw...Iolaus could read the signs and knew Herc was about to say something he didn't want to say...but felt he had to say.

"I'm sorry, Iolaus, but this scares me. I don't know how to defend against an attacking bear..."

"Nothing to be sorry about, Herc. If you weren't scared, you'd be a fool...and that you've never been." Iolaus heaved a sigh. "As for defending against attack..." Iolaus paused while he considered how they might actually take on the bear if it showed up. The tracks led around the pinnacle and, if the bear returned the same way, it's attention could be caught by someone in front of it, on the plateau, while the other could stay out of it's line of sight, up against the wall of rock and ice. "Well, first, if we go on, we need to go slowly, no talking, listening for it... We need to separate a bit. You need to get up against that pinnacle while I stay out here in clear view. If it shows up, I'll yell like all the hounds of Hades, wave my arms and scare it away."

Herc pictured the size of the beast that would make the huge prints in front of them and could not, for the life of him, imagine how some yelling and jumping around by his diminutive friend would have the desired effect. "Scare it away?" Herc sounded very skeptical.

"Well, yeah, it can't have seen many people and if I startle it, I might scare it away," Iolaus responded stoutly, but then catching the incredulous look in his friend's eyes, admitted, "or, I might not."

"Ah ha...and if you don't scare it...?"

"Well, if it looks like it's going to charge, then we move to Plan B. I'll hit it with a couple of well placed arrows, to slow it down. While I'm walking toward it, aiming the bow, and, by the way, attracting it's attention, you will be working yourself, quietly and unobtrusively, to the side and will get behind it. See, you'll be our secret weapon...you'll ambush it from behind. Then, we'll take our spears and, well, we'll kill it."

"Sure we will, piece of cake...tell me why you get to be the decoy and I get to sneak up behind."

"Well, for one thing, I'm a better shot than you are so I'm likely to do more damage with the bow. And, to be frank, you're a lot stronger, so you'll have a better chance of doing some real damage with the spear by sneaking up on it from behind."

Herc wasn't all that comfortable with either Plan A or Plan B...if he didn't stop the bear, Iolaus would be in real trouble. He suspected that the setup Iolaus had devised was designed to protect Herc from the full frontal assault of an enraged beast. On the other hand, Iolaus was better with the bow...and Herc really didn't have a better idea, other than just leaving now while they were ahead of the game.

Iolaus could see that Herc wanted to climb back down off that mountain...but, Iolaus really hated to have come this far without finishing. The cave couldn't be far away. With luck, the bear would be deep inside, wouldn't even know they were there...they could spot the cave, note the coordinates and get the hell out of here. He knew Herc would abide by his judgment on this...the decision to go on or go back was his responsibility.

"Let's go on, Herc. At least a little farther, check out what's on the other side of the pinnacle. We're so close..."

Hercules sighed and reluctantly nodded. He did not have a good feeling about this. But, Iolaus was right. It was their assignment, and it hadn't been meant to be easy. Chiron would not have given them something impossible to do...but, it had been an early spring and maybe Chiron hadn't thought the bear would be out and about this soon in the year. The bottom line for Hercules was that he trusted Iolaus and he would follow him.

"Okay," Herc said, with more confidence than he felt, "then let's do it!"

Off they trudged, following the tracks of broken snow, silently, breathing as quietly as they could. As they neared the pinnacle, Iolaus put his hand up to stop Hercules. Stopping, Iolaus took off his cape so that he would have better access to his bow, no constrictions if he had to use it in a hurry. The wind cut through his clothes and he shivered. "Iolaus," hissed Hercules, "you're gonna freeze to death!"

Iolaus shook his head, "It's only until we see what's ahead of us, Herc. I may need to be able to shoot quickly...the cape would only get in the way."

Hercules had to accept the reasoning, but he knew his friend could not take prolonged exposure on the top of this mountain. He'd been shivering with the cape let alone without it...and Herc could almost see his friend begin to turn blue with the cold. "Really, Herc," Iolaus assured him, "I'm alright." They were about to head off again when they heard a low growl from somewhere up ahead. Iolaus threw a quick look at Herc and waved him off to the side, closer to the pinnacle of stone...and then everything happened very fast, in a blur, so fast there was no time to think, only to react.

It was as if a piece of the mountain itself had lumbered from around the edge of the icy pinnacle of stone. It was huge, a monster of a bear, as white as the snow around it. On all fours, it was taller than Hercules. As soon as it came into view, Iolaus started screaming, waving his arms and jumping up and down...as if this would scare the brute. Far from being scared or even startled by this show of aggression by the puny animal in front of it, the bear was insulted. It reared up to it's full height and, for a moment, Hercules and Iolaus were stunned by the sheer size of the beast...it had to be twenty-five feet tall! It roared and waved it's front paws (which, Herc noted, were equipped with proportionately long, curved, exceedingly sharp looking claws) in it's own gesture of aggression.

Without hesitation, Iolaus reached for his bow, notched an arrow and let fly...and it hit true, just under the beast's left front leg...but it might as well have been a dart for all the impact it had on this monster. It's fur was too thick, it's hide too tough...the arrow could not penetrate far enough to have any effect...well, any positive effect. It did seem to madden the beast, which didn't help anything. Iolaus could tell from the look in it's eyes as it dropped back down on all fours that it was going to charge...and he was going to be flattened. His only hope was to distract the beast long enough, hold it off long enough, to allow Hercules to get behind it, to use his spear to kill the animal...at least one of them might survive to climb down off this damned mountain.

Tossing aside his bow, Iolaus hefted his spear just as the bear began it's charge. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Herc moving to position himself as Iolaus had instructed him only minutes before. As the beast came at him with the speed of an avalanche, Iolaus had no time for more than isolated impressions ...angry red eyes, gaping fang filled mouth, gods, the thing was HUGE!

Iolaus went down on one knee, digging one end of the spear into the snow, bracing it against the ground, so the tip was tilted up to ram into the beast at it bore down up him. In seconds, the bear had covered the hundred feet that had separated them and, as Iolaus had hoped, in its maddened rush, it ran straight onto the spear embedding it deeply in it's chest...but, unfortunately, not stopping it at all. He could smell the foul breath of the beast as it bore down upon him. The brute did not even slow down! With a roar of maddened fury and pain, the bear swiped a paw the size of a shield at it's tormenter, raking it's claws across Iolaus's body, ripping through the skin and muscle of his chest and knocking him to the ground. Blinded by the pain, gasping, forcing back the blackness that threatened to overwhelm him, Iolaus did not even hear Hercules scream his name at the same moment that Iolaus cried out against the sudden agony as he rolled to face the monster. Bracing one arm up to push back at the gaping jaw poised above his head, Iolaus pulled his knife from his belt with his other hand and slashed desperately at the beast's face and throat. The gaping jaws of sharp teeth as long as his hand were large enough to bite his whole head clean off. 'Gods,' he thought, 'I'm dead!' "HERCULES," he screamed, "KILL IT! KILL IT _**NOW!**_"

Hercules had watched the drama unfold with a kind of horrid fascination. Iolaus dropping to his knee, bracing the spear...how could he be so brave...how could he kneel so calmly, just waiting for the bear to...his friend looked pitifully small and vulnerable in comparison to the massive brute bearing down upon him. The spear looked like little more than a matchstick...and would probably have the same effect on the beast. It all happened so fast...the bear was past him, and Hercules was already moving, running to leap onto its back as it raked Iolaus with it's claws. He screamed Iolaus' name when he heard his friend cry out in pain...and he heard Iolaus' frantic urging that he kill the bear, kill it now. It was mauling Iolaus...he had to stop it, had to save his friend.

Hercules had leapt onto the monster's back, and in a frenzy of terror, he plunged his spear with all of his strength, time and time again, into the body of the bear. The white fur was soon scarlet, and still the bear roared out it's fury. Again, and again, Hercules drove his spear into the bear's body and, finally, he could feel it weakening. Now, more concerned about the pain from his back and annoyed by the slashing at its throat, the bear broke off it's attack on Iolaus, who was barely hanging onto consciousness as he fought against the sudden repeated thrusts of pain that assaulted his body. The desperate determination to survive, to hold the bear's attention away from Hercules, was the only thing that had kept him going as his breath rasped in his lungs and he tasted the salt of blood on his lips.

The bear lurched up, screaming it's fury, trying to shake off his attacker. As it's head came up, Hercules left the spear imbedded in the brute's back and grabbed the beast around the neck, squeezing for all he was worth, using every last bit of strength that had been doubled by his fear...he had to get this thing off Iolaus. He had to kill it, he had to...he had to save Iolaus. Meanwhile, Iolaus tried to roll away from under the bear, tried to pull himself to safety...but, his body wouldn't respond...his limbs were heavy, his sight blurred, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion...while it was actually happening in seconds. Finally, it's heart and lungs pierced by both spears, it's breath cut off by the relentless pressure around it's throat, the bear's thrashing gradually, gradually diminished until finally, it dropped on all four legs and then sagged to the ground. Iolaus had not managed to do much more than roll over and to the side so the bear collapsed upon him, covering half his body, pinning him into the scarlet snow.

"IOLAUS!" Hercules screamed as he leaped off the bear's back, seeking frantically for his friend. _**"IOLAUS!"**_ he cried again, in heartstopping fear when he realized that his friend was half buried under the body of the monstrous bear. Bending, bracing his legs in the blood red snow, Hercules pushed himself up and under the left front leg of the beast, using his back to lever the animal up, enough at least for him to gain purchase on Iolaus' belt and drag his friend to safety. As he heaved Iolaus out from under the carcass, and drew back himself, the bear's body again settled to the ground. All Herc knew as he dragged Iolaus out was that his friend seemed to be unconscious, limp and unresisting. When Iolaus was finally clear, Herc was able to see his blooddrenched body.

"By all the gods," he whispered as he rolled Iolaus onto his back, "Iolaus? Can you hear me?" Using snow, he hastily cleaned the blood away, hoping against hope that it all belonged to the bear...but, as he cleaned, he could see fresh blood welling not only from the tracks of the claws that had torn the skin and muscle to the bone, but also from several other points on his friend's body: a deep gash lacerated his left shoulder close to his neck, another cut deeply on the right side along his ribs, a puncture wound in the right hip, and yet another through the right thigh. Iolaus moaned and his lips were blue, teeth chattering against the extreme cold and reaction to injury. No time to think, only to react. Hercules tore off his cape and then his shirt, ripping it into strips to push into the wounds in a desperate measure to staunch the flow of blood, tying off the leg in a tourniquet.

"Hang on, Iolaus," he chanted as he worked with panicked deliberation, "hang on, buddy." Finishing the hasty bandaging, he wrapped Iolaus in his cape, picked him up and moved in a staggering run through the knee high snow to the edge of the pinnacle, hoping that the cave was just on the other side.

He had to get Iolaus into some kind of shelter, build a fire, cleanse the wounds and bind them properly. "Hang on, buddy..." he murmured over and over as he ran. Distracted by his fear for Iolaus, all of his attention focused on his friend, Hercules failed to see, or to sense, the spectre that gradually rose up out of the body of the bear...a spectre the shape of a tall, lithe, strong man...dark skinned and proud. The spectre watched Hercules stumble across the snow until he was lost from sight...and then the spectre, too, disappeared, in a sparkling shimmer of light.

The only luck of that wretched day was that the cave was, indeed, only a few yards past the outcropping of the pinnacle's base. Hercules paused a moment to assure himself the bear hadn't left friends or family in the den and then gently laid Iolaus on the ground near the wall, just inside of the entrance, out of the wind. He then ran back to get their packs and Iolaus's cape. When he returned, Iolaus was still unconscious but moaning softly in pain. Herc felt as if he could hardly breathe and his mouth was dry as dust. He trembled with fear for his friend as he hastily built a fire, put water and herbs to heat in the cauldron, dug more herbs and the healing salve out of Iolaus' pack, and grabbed all the rags he could find.

Turning back to Iolaus, he unwrapped his friend's body. When he saw that the bleeding had slowed, he shuddered with gratitude and hope. Iolaus' breathing was raspy and his body felt as if it were frozen. Hercules quickly spread one of the blankets by the fire and moved Iolaus onto it. His friend gasped in pain as he was lifted and then set down again by the fire. Hercules loosened the tourniquet, treated and rebandaged the wounds. By now, Iolaus was shuddering from the cold and his whole body looked blue...from the cold? from loss of blood? both? Hercules covered his friend with the remaining blanket and the capes. Iolaus started to cough, as if he couldn't breathe and flecks of blood showed on his lips. Hercules hastily moved under the blanket and capes, pulled his friend's shoulders up to be supported against his own shoulder and chest...the coughing stopped, his friend's breathing eased.

For the first time since the nightmare began, Hercules stopped moving. He held his friend tightly in his arms, trying by sheer force of will to merge his warmth into Iolaus' frozen body. As he cradled his friend in his arms, Iolaus' head resting against his chest, Herc tightened his lips against the sob that was rising in his throat, blinked his eyes against the tears that were threatening and prayed with all his heart to the gods...gods that, in his soul, he knew cared nothing for the mortals of this earth.

An hour passed, and then two...the sun set and the only light was the flickering of the fire. Iolaus had stopped shivering long before, warmed by the closeness of his friend, but Herc still thought Iolaus' body felt too cold...shock maybe? The raspiness of his breathing did not get better, but it neither did it worsen. The bleeding along the marks of the claws had stopped, but blood still oozed from the four deeper wounds, two of which went right through Iolaus' body, as if he had been impaled on something. Herc wondered vaguely what had caused those deeper wounds, but in his own state of shock, he could not figure it out. It didn't matter at this stage. What mattered was that he had to stop the bleeding. He'd have to cauterize them. Thank the gods that Iolaus was still unconscious.

Hercules heated his knife in the fire and then, holding his friend still with one strong arm, he sealed each wound in turn. Even unconscious, Iolaus could feel the agony and cried out in pain, writhing so that Hercules had to lean his body on his friend's to contain the thrashing. When he was done, he again treated the wounds with the salve and the bandages. He'd had to use the needle and thread Iolaus had packed to close the wounds on the hip and through the leg...Iolaus moaned softly as Hercules turned him to treat the wounds that had penetrated all the way through his body...again came the nagging question of what could have caused such damage. Tying off the last knot, he remembered with bitter humour the crack he had made to Iolaus about dressmaking when they'd packed the needle and thread...he had never dreamed that he would be stitching up Iolaus. As Hercules finished dressing the last wound, he knew he would have to tear up the rest of his shirt and then Iolaus' to make more bandages in the morning. A little at a time, Hercules managed to get a cup of water into Iolaus...he'd lost so much blood, he had to take in fluids or he'd die. As the night wore on, Hercules continued to hold Iolaus in his arms, leaning for support against the cave wall. Finally, giving way to exhaustion, Hercules slept.

Hercules woke with a start, a strangled 'no' in his throat. In his dreams, the horrific battle with the Snow Bear played itself out over and over. He could feel his terror, his desperation to save Iolaus. He could feel himself thrust the spear into the beast again and again, pulling back each time the spear would go no further, feeling again and again the spear hit resistance, pulling it back and thrusting it again... _resistance_...he awoke with the realization of what he had done. Unconsciously, he gripped Iolaus more tightly against him. "No," he whispered, "gods, no... oh gods, Iolaus, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." and a sob rose in his throat. His body trembled and he felt as if he would throw up. Fighting back the urge, concentrating on having to support his friend, Hercules fought to breathe, to fight back the horror of his guilt. He had done this...in his frenzy of fear, in his desperation, he had forgotten his own strength. He had thrust that spear, time and time again, straight through the body of the bear, into and through the body of his friend, impaling Iolaus over, and over, and over. Instead of saving his friend, Herc may have killed him.

Somehow, the magnitude of his despair was felt by Iolaus. 'Herc,' he thought, 'gotta get to Herc...' as he struggled up and out of the darkness that held him. 'Gods, the pain!' It felt like jagged daggers were imbedded all over his body and the wounds from the bear burned with a searing agony. Iolaus moaned against the pain, resisting awareness, wanting the peace of oblivion, but he could feel the trembling in Herc's body, he could hear the almost strangled sound of his breathing, as if from a great distance... 'Herc needs me...gotta get to him.' So, he fought back against the pain, denying it's hold on his mind, mastered it...at least for a time.

"Herc?" his voice hardly louder than his breathing, "Hercules? What's wrong? Herc...?" Iolaus' eyes raked the face of his friend, saw the white haggard pallor, the glazed, strickened eyes, felt the trembling of a wrenching grief. "Herc, it's okay...Hercules," Iolaus whispered and raised a hand to rest against his friend's chest, to calm the trembling, to sooth. Hercules didn't seem to hear him, seemed dazed. Iolaus was being held so tightly that it was getting hard to breathe...not, he reflected that it was easy in the first place...gods it hurt! Gathering his strength, he called louder and the whisper became a breathy shout... "Hercules, you're hurting me...Herc, loosen up!"

Somehow, his voice got through and awareness came back into Herc's eyes. Jolted, Hercules loosen his grip. "Iolaus," he almost whimpered, "I was afraid you were never going to wake up! Gods, Iolaus, I'm so sorry..." Even in his weakened state, Iolaus could see his friend was in major distress...he was pale, as if in shock and he shook as if he was freezing. Iolaus had to do something...was Herc hurt? Did he need help?

"Herc, take it easy...what's wrong...are...you...hurt? Did...the ...bear..."

"No, Iolaus," Hercules shook his head sharply, "the bear didn't hurt me...it's ...it's you. Gods, Iolaus, you've been hurt so bad...I'm so sorry..."

"Hey, it'll be...okay...just need to rest...thirsty Herc," whispered Iolaus, relieved that Hercules was unhurt...he couldn't stand the idea of Hercules being mauled by that monster. Hercules brought a cup to his lips and he drank gratefully. Reassured that Herc was okay, he could relax again. Muttering about the cold that gripped his body, Iolaus drifted back to sleep, oblivious to the haunted look in his friend's eyes.

Hercules knew he had to do something to fight the cold. It would kill Iolaus faster than would his wounds...it sapped all the strength Iolaus had and made it impossible for his body to fight back from the shock of trauma and blood loss. In his dazed state, it took Hercules longer than it should have for him to realize that there was something he could do. Gently settling Iolaus by the fire, wrapping him snugly in the blankets and cloaks, Hercules picked up a knife and headed out of the cave, back to the bear.

In the prelight of dawn, the blood looked black against the snow and the fur of the bear. Oblivious to the wind that was sucking the heat from his own body, Hercules set about skinning the huge beast...the bear skin would help to keep Iolaus warm. Worried more about speed than finesse, Hercules slashed the bear's neck and shoulders, cutting down along the legs and around the massive paws. He then half cut, half ripped the skin from the back and limbs of the carcass. Rolling it into a manageable bundle, he headed back to the cave where he spread the bearskin, fur side down, over his sleeping friend, then burrowed back under the coverings himself, again pulling Iolaus' body into his arms, wishing he could share more than warmth, wishing he could give his friend strength to fight back. Exhausted, Hercules also slept.

Hours passed, and the daylight was already dimming toward evening when Herc was awakened by Iolaus' feeble thrashing and muttering. Iolaus' body was no longer cold...heat radiated from him. Fever...there must be some infection. Herc checked each of the wounds and all showed an angry reddening, but the bleeding had all stopped. The wounds from the claws, along the ribs and in the hip were supperating, a yellowish, not quite green, drainage seeping from each area. Herc melted snow in the small cauldron, cleansed the wounds and applied herbs and salve. As he finished, he became aware that Iolaus was conscious, was watching him in the half light of the fire.

"Hey, how're you doing?" he asked softly.

Iolaus managed to conjure up the ghost of a grin as he muttered, "I've been better...but, at least I don't feel so cold."

"I know...fever's started. Chiron always says a fever is a good thing...shows that the body is fighting the infection."

Iolaus nodded weakly, struggled to swallow. "Thirsty," he rasped. Hercules reached for a waterskin, poured some into a cup and, lifting Iolaus' head, held the cup to his lips. Iolaus drank gratefully, then turned his head as he started coughing. Hercules hoped this wasn't the beginning of pneumonia...he didn't think Iolaus could survive that in his weakened state. Setting the cup down, he twisted to sit with his back against the cavern wall and pulled Iolaus' shoulders up to rest against his chest, propping his friend so that he could breathe more easily. With one hand, Hercules dragged the coverings up to keep them both warm.

Despite the fever, or perhaps because of it, Iolaus felt more alert than he had since the attack the day before...was it only a day? Seemed longer ago. His eyes scanned the cave...took in the dwindling pile of kindling, the remaining half full waterskin, the huge bear rug that was piled around them. He knew there couldn't be much food left...but, there was always the jerky, and bear meat. Not the most appetizing idea, but better than nothing. Still, without water or fire, they couldn't last long.

"The bearskin's a good idea, Herc," he commended his friend's ingenuity.

"Yeah, well, I figured that bear had to be good for something...I couldn't seem to get you warm..."

Iolaus snorted, "No surprise given our current location...looks like there's not much water left."

"There's lots of snow...we can melt it for water."

"Uh huh, as long as the fire lasts...we can't stay here much longer, Herc."

"Hmmm, I know...but, we can't leave until you're stronger."

"Uh, maybe you should go for help..."

"No, Iolaus, I'm not leaving you up here alone. Don't even think it."

"But..."

"No buts...we came up together and we'll go down together...just not tonight."

Iolaus subsided. He never really thought that Herc would go without him...which meant that he had to get his act together. He was just so tired...and weak...and it hurt so bad...and it was so cold...he drifted off thinking that there was something else, something wrong...Herc was..was what? He couldn't focus on what was bothering him...just that Herc seemed brusque, tense...something...and he slept. Hercules felt him relax as sleep and fever took over. The fire burned to embers and another night began.

Hercules wasn't sure how much time had passed since they had left the Academy...was it seven days, eight? Holding Iolaus propped against his chest, he rested his chin on the top of Iolaus' head as he stared into the darkness. Whenever he was still, whenever there was nothing else to do, nothing to take his attention or engage his thoughts, he sank back into his guilt and despair. If it had only been the wounds from the claws, Iolaus would be in a lot better shape. It was the other wounds that were more serious...the wounds Hercules had inflicted.

It didn't matter that it had been an accident. He should have realized...somehow, he should have been more aware of what he was doing. He was haunted by the realization that if Iolaus died, it would be his fault. The strength that he had come to take for granted, that he'd always thought of as something good, useful...he could now see was dangerous, destructive...deadly. He hadn't been able to eat since...he had to fight against the sickness, the nausea that was present every time he remembered thrusting the spear, feeling the resistance, knowing now that he had been impaling Iolaus...he swallowed hard against the lump in his throat, fought back against the sob that was always ready to tear him apart in guilt and grief, closed his eyes tight against the burn of tears. Finally, long after the sun had set, exhaustion claimed him and he slept.

Sometime in the cold hours before dawn, Hercules awoke and felt the heat pouring out of Iolaus' body. The fever was raging and Iolaus was shivering with chills, muttering, restless. He was too hot...Hercules had to bring the fever down. Grimly, he realized the cold of the cavern would be helpful. He only needed to pull the bearskin and covers away from Iolaus' body to expose him to a bitter chill that drew the heat from his body. It only took a few minutes before his body temperature dropped and Hercules pulled the covers back into place. The cold was getting to him, too. He threw a few more sticks on the fire...he knew this could not go on. They had to get off this mountain before the cold killed them both. He was just so tired...easing his back from the cavern wall, he stretched out beside Iolaus, hundling under the heaps of coverings and slept.

The sun was high before either of the comrades awoke. Iolaus was feeling a lot better. The fever was down and, when Hercules checked the wounds, he was relieved to see that the angry redness and other signs of infection were gone. Melting snow in the cauldron, Hercules made a herbal tea to warm them. Iolaus was used to Hercules being quiet...it was Iolaus who normally did all the talking ('babbling' Herc sometimes called it), but this silence seemed deeper...strained...especially when Hercules was checking his wounds...and Herc seemed to be avoiding his eyes. Something definitely wasn't right.

"Herc...is something wrong?"

Herc gave Iolaus a sideways,sardonic look as he replied with exasperation. "You mean besides the fact that we are stuck in this freezing cave and you've almost been killed, and we're almost out of wood and there's not much water or food left...you mean besides all that?"

"Yeah, besides all that."

"No...nothing's wrong." Herc had turned away as he responded, every tense line of his body screaming out in contradiction to his words.

"Hercules," Iolaus pushed, patiently, but relentlessly, "you're a terrible liar...did you know that?"

When Hercules didn't bother to respond, Iolaus pondered over what could be bothering his usually even tempered friend...and then he realized that Hercules was probably angry with him. Angry that he had refused to leave the mountain when Herc had wanted to ... angry that Iolaus was hurt and that they were stuck here, but unable to say anything because he wouldn't want Iolaus to feel guilty. Well, it was his fault...might as well admit it and clear the air.

"Herc, I'm really sorry about this..." he began, but got no further when Herc turned, obviously surprised and cut him off, "Sorry about what?"

"Well, if I'd of listened to you we wouldn't be in this mess. You wanted to leave before... well, before we found the Snow Bear...and you were right. I'm sorry. I should have listened to you."

Hercules couldn't meet Iolaus' eyes. 'He doesn't know.' Herc thought. 'He doesn't realize what I did to him...that this isn't his fault...it's mine.' Herc swallowed hard, took a deep breath and decided it was time to admit what he had done.

"Iolaus," Hercules paused as his voice threatened to crack. "Iolaus, there's something I have to tell you," and he raised his eyes to meet Iolaus' puzzled glance. "Your injuries...the worst ones...the bear didn't cause them...I did."

Iolaus was evidently relieved by these comments. "Is that all that's bothering you? I knew that..."

"You knew? When I was...I was... the spear..." Hercules stumbled to a halt. He just couldn't get the words out, could barely think about, remember what... and, Iolaus watching his friend's evident distress, began to understand.

"Oh, Hercules...don't tell me you've been tearing yourself up about this?" Herc didn't trust himself to speak...he was afraid he might lose control, cry...there was such an aching of guilt and shame inside, like a great, yawning emptiness that was at the same time choking him. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to respond, "Iolaus, I was afraid...afraid I'd killed you..." ashamed as his voice cracked and tears threatened, Hercules turned away.

"Well, that's just stupid, Herc! I can't believe you've been worrying about this!"

Exasperated, Hercules turned back, raw emotion turning into something like anger. "What can't you believe? Iolaus, I panicked...I wasn't thinking...I just kept slamming that spear into that...that beast as hard as I could...it's a miracle that I didn't kill you!"

Iolaus propped himself up on one arm as he studied his friend for some moments. Finally, "Herc, come over here.," and, when Herc didn't move, he continued more forcibly, "Hercules, come over here right now and sit down. We need to talk."

Herc groaned...talk...like he really wanted to rake over this ... but looking back at the steely determination in Iolaus' eyes, he knew that this was something that he couldn't avoid any longer. Stiffly, he moved back to sit down beside Iolaus and, shivering, he pulled one of the cloaks over his shoulders. He sat with his head down, refusing to meet Iolaus' eyes, staring instead at his hands clasped on his knees. He tried to keep all expression off his face, but he couldn't stop the clenching of the muscle along his jaw or relax the tense rigidity of every other muscle in his body. No matter what Iolaus said, Hercules knew that he'd been out of control and that his loss of control had almost proved fatal.

Iolaus smothered a soft groan as he forced himself to sit up...evidence of any pain would not be particularly helpful at this moment and he knew it. Taking a deep breath, he reached out and gripped Herc's arm as hard as he could, while he spoke quietly, intensely, "Hercules, you listen to me," and, as he caught the subtle shake of Herc's head, "_Listen_, I said. You didn't do anything wrong." Herc turned his head away, implicitly denying Iolaus' statement.

"Okay," Iolaus allowed, "why don't you explain to me again just what it was that you did that you're so sure was wrong."

Without lifting his head, Hercules muttered, "I told you, I panicked. I lost control. I wasn't paying attention...and because of that, because of my strength, I kept pushing the spear through the bear and into...into you. Your injuries are my fault."

"Uh huh...well, what did you expect? Of _course_, you panicked! That monstrous brute was twenty-five feet tall, musta weighted, what two tons, and it was TRYING TO EAT ME! I think I'd be concerned if you _hadn't_ been a bit upset!"

Hercules sighed, "You're missing the point...I can't afford to forget my strength...it's dangerous...I could have killed you."

"Like you'd know exactly how much strength it was going to take to kill that thing...afterall, you've never had to do anything like that before..." Iolaus could see he wasn't getting through. "Okay, let's look at this another way...if you hadn't 've done what you did, I'D BE DEAD! That thing was about to tear my head off with it's teeth! I have to tell you, Herc, a couple of measly spear wounds really don't matter much in the face of that reality. You were desperate to save my life...and I'm glad of it. So, in the heat of the moment, you fought a little harder than usual and you didn't realize all that was happening. SO WHAT? You Saved My Life! Look at me, dammit!"

Realizing that Iolaus was getting seriously worked up...and that might not be the best thing in his weakened condition, Hercules relented and made eye contact...but it was clear that he still wasn't buying Iolaus' words.

"Hercules," Iolaus continued in a softer, calmer tone, "I will not allow you to feel guilty because you were scared...who wouldn't be? Or because you were worried so much about saving my life that you forgot your strength in your desperation to kill that bear before it killed me. Don't you understand? You saved my life, Herc."

"No, you don't understand, Iolaus...I didn't kill it with the spear...I killed it with my bare hands...I choked it to death...all I did with the spear was almost kill you."

Seeing Iolaus' pallor, seeing him wince against the pain, Hercules just wanted to stop the argument. He shifted and, taking Iolaus by the shoulders, he gently but firmly, pressed him back down into the fur and blankets.

"I listened to you, Iolaus, now you listen to me. I was out of control when I used that weapon...and that's just plain dangerous. If I can't control my strength in situations like that, then I can't afford to have a weapon in my hands."

"Herc, you wouldn't have been able to strangle it if it hadn't 've raised it's head to try to shake you off...it was the damage you were inflicting with the spear that got it's attention. The fact that I got a little damaged in the process was just an accident. Don't make it out to be more than it was..."

Hercules sighed in resignation. "Okay, how about this...we're both right. It was an accident...but I also can't keep using weapons if I can't be sure that accidents like this won't keep happening."

Iolaus paused, not sure what he could say to that...and in that space of time, in that moment, he felt the mountain shift under his back and they both heard a roaring sound, a tearing, wrenching of the earth, as the world started to shake violently. "Earthquake!" they both cried as rocks started to fall, shaken loose from the ceiling above and around them. Without hesitation, Hercules threw his body over Iolaus, to shield him from the collapsing roof of the cave. Iolaus felt the impact of the huge chunks of rock as they hit Herc's body, felt his friend suddenly go limp just before the trembling of the earth stopped and the last rocks fell.

"Herc," Iolaus called softly into the silence, "Herc, are you alright?" Alarmed at not getting any answer, Iolaus shifted under the sprawled body of his friend, reaching around to feel for broken bones, checking ribs, back, neck ...and found the wet, stickiness on the back and left side of Hercules' head. Blood. And a nasty bump already forming. He couldn't find any other injuries so he felt safe in pushing himself out from under Herc's body and then leveraging his own body to push Herc over onto his side. Iolaus wasn't overly alarmed by the blood...head wounds tended to be bleeders. But, he didn't like the fact that he couldn't wake Herc up...head injuries were scary...you just didn't know when, or if, the person would regain consciousness.

Pulling bandages off his own chest, Iolaus padded the wound to stop the flow of blood. He pulled the fur and blankets up over Hercules to keep him warm against shock and then looked around at the ruin of their cavern. Huge chunks of rock littered the floor. The last of their water had been lost when one stone had squashed and torn the waterskin. Damn, damn, DAMN! The situation just kept getting worse. Knowing there was nothing he could do but wait, Iolaus curled under the covers, huddling against Herc's body and stared up through the hole above him to the sky.

The day had begun to fade by the time Hercules began to stir. Moaning softly, grimacing against the pounding hammers in his head, Herc put a hand up to inspect the damage and blinked awake. "Well, finally," complained Iolaus, "I was beginning to wonder when you'd ever wake up!"

Hercules just winced and muttered, "What hit me?"

"The ceiling."

"Well, that explains why I feel like a mountain fell on me...owwwww!"

"Okay, let's do the drill," Iolaus began, "What's your name?"

"Hercules."

"What's your mother's name?"

"Alcmene."

"What's my name?"

"Iolaus, please, just let me die in peace." Iolaus chuckled, relieved that Herc was feeling well enough to make jokes...at least, he hoped Herc was making a joke.

"Just one more, how many fingers?" he asked, as he held three fingers up in front of Herc's face.

"Ha! Ha! Very funny, Iolaus. How am I supposed to see how many fingers when it's the middle of the night and pitch black in here?"

Iolaus froze...it wasn't night and it wasn't pitch black in the cavern. Light was still streaming in, both from the hole above them and from the cavern entrance. "Yeah, right, Herc...listen, you've probably got a concussion...just take it easy, rest...I'll wake you up from time to time...you know, just to make sure you're okay..." Sleep sounded like a very good idea to Hercules and so he closed his eyes against the pain and, as he began to drift off, he mumbled, "At least you don't hate me..."

Startled, Iolaus repeated, "Hate you?"

"Yeah," Herc mumbled softly, "I thought you might hate me."

Iolaus began to wonder if Hercules was hallucinating. "Why would I hate you?"

"Mmmm? Well, your father hurt you...and you hated him..." Herc's voice dwindled as he drifted off.

Slowly, his eyes pricking with tears, Iolaus laid back down beside Hercules... 'Gods,' he thought, 'you can find more things to worry about, Hercules, than anyone else I've ever known...as if I could _ever _hate you.'

Looking out into the bright white beyond the cavern's entrance, Iolaus wondered, 'Now what do we do? I can hardly stand up and Herc's blind...how in Hades are we going to get off this mountain?' Iolaus couldn't conceive of a reality in which Hercules was permanently incapacitated, but even if this was only temporary it meant that they could be stuck on the top of this mountain for days. 'No,' Iolaus thought, as he remembered they were out of water and almost out of wood, 'staying up here is not an option...we have to get back down.' But the question remained...how?

Herc slept for the rest of the day and through the night. Iolaus woke him from time to time...just to make sure Hercules was not slipping into a deeper level of unconsciousness. Each time Iolaus shoved him and forced him into wakefulness, Hercules was more irritated than the time before. Clearly, the head injury was not worsening...Iolaus did not ask if Herc could see the embers of the fire...and Hercules, assuming it was still night, did not think anything about the fact that the world around him remained black.

**Chapter Three: Beyond Courage...Tests of Trust**

The darkness was impenetrable, it surrounded and suffocated him. Hercules knew, this time when he awakened, that something was wrong. The night had been too long...his head was still pounding. He could hear Iolaus poking at the fire...he could hear the crackling of wood...but he couldn't see any light. "Iolaus?" he called, his voice rough and tight.

Iolaus turned from the fire at the sound of Hercules' voice and knew from the expression on his friend's face that Herc had realized he could not see. "It's alright, Herc..." he began, but Hercules cut him off, half in anger, half in fear, "No, it's not alright...Iolaus, I can't see!"

Iolaus reached over and gripped his friend's shoulder, "I know...I realized it yesterday after the cave in. Herc, you took a bad crack on the head...you've got a concussion. This is probably only a temporary side effect..."

"Temporary? You think?" Hercules was willing to grab onto any possibility of hope...he couldn't imagine not being able to see...being blind...for the rest of his life. The magnitude of the idea was too much, too overwhelming...too terrifying.

"Here, drink this...it'll help the headache." Hercules felt Iolaus lift his head and he felt the rim of the tin cup against his lips. Lifting his own hand, he took the cup and drank the herbal tea... "Yycchhhh! Iolaus, can't you even make tea?"

Iolaus chuckled, "Yeah, well some of your herbal cures aren't that appetizing either. Drink it...it'll help."

Herc grimaced and drank the rest in one gulp, then laid his head back onto the ground. He didn't want to think about how bad their situation was...surely Chiron hadn't imagined all of this when he had set them this challenge. He could hear Iolaus curse softly in frustrated pain and discomfort as he moved around the cave...it sounded like Iolaus was stuffing their packs. "What are you doing, Iolaus?"

Iolaus stopped wrestling with one of the blankets, trying to fold it enough to pack it away. "I'm packing."

"Packing? Why? Are you going somewhere? And just when this was really starting to feel like home?" Hercules hadn't taken Iolaus seriously. Who was he trying to kid? Packing? They weren't going anywhere. Iolaus could barely move and he couldn't see...no way were they going to be climbing down that mountain anytime soon.

"We're leaving as soon as you think you can stand up." Notwithstanding the fact that he could hear a certain grim determination in Iolaus' voice, Herc really couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Iolaus, you have got to be kidding..."

Iolaus sighed as he looked over at his incapacited friend. He could understand Hercules' incredulity...the idea did seem ridiculous, but, "We don't have any choice, Herc. The last of the wood is on the fire and we're out of water. The snow helps, but we don't have anything big enough to melt enough to really be useful. If we don't go, we'll die up here."

He _was_ serious. Hercules groaned as he levered himself up on one elbow and turned his face in the direction of his friend's voice. "Maybe I wasn't the only one who took a crack on the head! How in Tarturus do you imagine we are going to manage the climb? Iolaus, it's impossible...you can hardly move and I...(he gestured helplessly)...I'm not going to be of much use right now."

Iolaus pushed himself painfully to his feet and shuffled over to kneel down beside Hercules...muttering with irritation about the difficulty walking and bending with his injured leg and hip. He gripped Herc's shoulder. "Listen to me, Herc. We don't have any choice. Without fire, the cold will kill us. We can only last about three days without sufficient water. Waiting will only make the situation worse. We have to go today...now, if you think you can stand."

"You still haven't explained how we are going to accomplish this." Herc's feeling of helplessness was leading to anger and his tone was cold, abrupt.

"We're going to climb in tandem."

"What does that mean, exactly?"

Iolaus knew Herc was not going to like this, but he honestly couldn't think of any other solution...and he knew enough about survival strategies to know that they couldn't wait even another day. By tomorrow, they would just be weaker. In two days, the cold would have numbed them to the point that they would not want to move...if they even lasted that long without fire.

"In tandem means that we will be roped tightly together." As Herc opened his mouth to protest, Iolaus quickly carried on, "Wait, hear me out. I know I'm still too weak to make the climb on my own, but you know you have the strength to support me. I know you can't see...but I can. I can find the handholds for you...We'll use the grappling hook and the rope to help us lower ourselves."

"Iolaus, this is crazy. We'll fall...tied together, it just means that we'll both be killed."

Herc couldn't see Iolaus' playful grin, but he could hear the kidding tone when Iolaus replied, "Oh, I don't know...if I land on you, I should be okay!"

Hercules snorted, half in amusement, half in disgust. "You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am. We really don't have any choice...not if we want to survive to tell this tale to our kids some day."

Iolaus watched expressions flit across Herc's face as he thought about the situation, the lack of options. When he saw the reluctant resignation, Iolaus pushed himself back up onto his feet, using Herc's shoulder to leverage himself up, and went back to stuffing their gear into the packs. Herc began to do what he could to help, silently folding up the blanket that was covering him, groping for his own cloak and then putting it around his shoulders and tying it around his neck, rolling up the bearskin. All the while, he fought back the sense of panic that arose whenever he imagined stepping back off the edge of the cliff, stepping into nothingness, seeing nothing but blackness, knowing that Iolaus would be relying upon him for strength, to keep Iolaus from falling. It was all beyond anything he could ever have imagined, even in his worst nightmares. When he finished doing what he could, he stood silently, waiting for Iolaus to pack up the cauldron and tripod and he heard Iolaus kick out the fire.

"Okay, Herc," Iolaus said as he brought the packs over, "you'll have to sling these over your shoulders, under your cape. Here, let me help," he said as he guided Herc's hand to first one pack and then the other. "You'll also have to carry the rope."

"Who was your pack mule last year?" Herc muttered, trying for a touch of humour but not doing well. Iolaus winced a bit, thinking the complaint was serious. He didn't want to admit how weak he really was, how hard it had been to simply crawl out of the cave to get snow to make the herbal tea. He didn't want to think about the fact that his leg and hip had started to bleed again or that every move tore at the wounds at his neck, across his chest and along his ribs. The truth was he could barely stand, let alone carry anything. "I'm sorry, Herc, I just can't..." Hercules hastily reached out and clumsily found Iolaus's shoulder, patted it reassuringly, "I was only kidding, Iolaus, it's okay."

"Well, good, because not only do you have to carry all this stuff, you're going to have to let me lean on you too, at least until we get to the edge of the cliff..."

"No sweat, Iolaus...just point me toward the entrance and we'll be on our way."

And so they started off, Iolaus with one arm around Herc's waist, Herc with one arm around Iolaus, the rope slung over his opposite shoulder and the bearskin rolled under that arm. Half walking, half stumbling, they left the cave and set out around the pinnacle to head toward the edge of the cliff. As they moved around the edge of the pinnacle, Iolaus was surprised to see there was no trace of the bear.

"Herc, did you throw it over the cliff or what?" he asked as they staggered forward.

"Throw what over the cliff?"

"The bear."

"What are you talking about?" Herc asked, slightly exasperated. He had no idea what Iolaus was going on about.

"I'm talking about the bear, Herc. What did you do with the carcass?"

"I didn't do anything with it...why?" he asked as Iolaus suddenly stopped walking.

Iolaus didn't answer immediately. He was scanning the plateau. He could see the evidence of the battle with the Snow Bear...the blood still stained the snow in brownish red patches and streaks, and the snow was trampled by the tracks and by the weight of the bear's body. But there was no bear. He shivered...but wasn't sure if it was because of the wind or the eerie feeling that caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up. This was...weird, very weird.

"Iolaus?"

"It's gone, Herc. The bear...it's gone..."

"That's impossible! Iolaus, this is no time to be kidding around. Just because I can't see anything, it's no reason to make up crazy stories..."

"I'm not, Herc...it's gone. I don't understand it..." Then, within the constant moaning of the wind, Iolaus thought he heard a low growl...oh gods, what was going on? "We have to hurry, Herc...something's not right...I've got a bad feeling..."

Without further words, he began pulling Herc toward the edge of the plateau. When they got there, he hurriedly took the rope from Herc's shoulder and wedged the grappling hook solidly into rocks near the edge. Then, with Herc's help, he got the end of the rope around the two of them and tied it tightly in a knot. It took longer than he wanted...his hands were already numb from the cold and he was trembling with his urgency to get away from the top of the mountain. He had tied them into a position whereby he would be against the cliff face, his back against Herc's chest, the bearskin held in the rope at Herc's back. He put the grappling hook end of the rope into Hercules' hands and threw the rest of the three hundred feet of it over the edge. Looking back, he gradually guided Hercules to the edge.

"It's one step back, Herc and then the next step is down, so you'll have to feel for a toe hold. Use the rope as an anchor...don't worry, we won't fall. Just take your time." And, he tried to nudge Herc back...but, Herc felt as if he was frozen. This was it...he wasn't sure he could do it. He felt Iolaus push back gently and knew he had to move. Iolaus could feel Herc's reluctance...he could understand it, but there was no time...he could feel the danger, they had to get off the plateau. He could feel something watching them...tearing his eyes away from the cliff edge, Iolaus swept his eyes up the pinnacle, then back across the plateau...and his breath caught as he found himself looking into the reddened eyes of the Snow Bear. It was back at the edge of the pinnacle, standing silently, watching them. It reared up on it's hind legs, growling deep in it's throat, then dropped down and started toward them.

Frantic, Iolaus shoved Hercules with his shoulder. "Now, Herc, we have to go NOW!"

Herc hadn't heard the growl, but he could hear the panic in Iolaus' voice. "What is it? What's happening?"

"Don't ask! JUST MOVE! NOW!" and he pushed back again, harder. Hercules heard the desperate urgency and, though he didn't know why, he knew Iolaus would have his reasons...it was a physical effort to thrust his fear aside, to trust his friend's instincts and to step back, blindly, over the abyss. He held tightly to the rope and could tell that Iolaus was holding on as well. His left foot found a toe hold and, steadying himself with the rope, he moved his right foot back and down, feeling desperately for the next niche of support. Iolaus, tied to him, was moving with him, leaning back between his arms to balance against his chest, scrambling to find his own footholds. "Keep moving, Herc...hurry, please...hurry."

And so, he took the next step back and down...and then the next, and the next. His whole world had shrunk to the reality of holding the rope tightly, feeling Iolaus lean into him and feeling the face of the cliff for footholds. His concentration was so great, he forgot the cold and did not feel the rope burning his palms. He forgot his headache...in a strange way, he even forgot his blindness. Everything in his being was concentrated upon not falling.

As they started over and down the cliff face, Iolaus kept his eyes locked on the bear, trusting Hercules to find the footholds, to hold them secure. Finally, his head was below the cliff edge and he lost sight of the bear. He continued to look up at the edge as they moved further down, scanning the side of the cliff to ensure there was no way the bear could follow them. They were about fifteen feet below the plateau when Iolaus saw the beast on the edge, staring down at them, swiping a paw at them in a futile attempt to stop them. The bear then turned it's attention to the rope, trying to reach it with it's jaws and then with it's paws. But Iolaus had anchored the grappling hook amongst rocks that held the rope just out of the beast's reach. They were safe, at least from the bear. As safe as two men could be on the face of a mountain, when one was blind and the other too weak to support himself. Iolaus almost sobbed with the relief of being beyond the bear's reach.

Hercules still did not know what had caused Iolaus to feel such alarm...and, at this point, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. It was enough to just focus on feeling his way down the mountain. Despite their handicaps, they made much better time on the descent than they had in climbing up the rock face. Within a couple of hours, they were at the ledge where they had spent the night of the blizzard. And, they were at the end of their rope...literally. They were three hundred feet below the plateau.

"Herc, angle to your left about five feet over and down. That's it...we're almost at our last campsite." Herc reached the ledge and Iolaus stepped down upon it a moment later. They paused, both leaning into the rock, breathing heavily, already exhausted by their efforts...more from the fear they each felt, and the cold, than from the actual physical exertion of the descent. After a few minutes, Hercules put a hand on Iolaus' shoulder and asked, "I don't suppose you'd like to tell me what was going on up there?"

Iolaus shuddered as he thought about the malice he had seen deep in the maddened eyes of the bear. "It's back, Herc...the bear. It's alive. I saw it coming for us."

Hercules wasn't sure how to respond to this...had Iolaus really seen the bear? Or, was he hallucinating ...which did not bode well for the success of this latest challenge of getting off the mountain. "Iolaus," he ventured, "that's impossible. We killed it...I skinned it...it can't be alive. It must be a different bear."

"A different body, maybe...but, I swear, Herc, it was the same awareness in it's eyes. It knew who we were...it recognized me every bit as much as I recognized it. That bear is something supernatural, I could feel it." Iolaus shuddered again at the memory of the malevolence in the beast's eyes. "Maybe it really is the incarnation of Orion...maybe the old legends are true."

"You know, Iolaus, if we ever get back to the Academy, Chiron better be able to give us a few answers about what has been going on up there."

"Yeah," Iolaus agreed as he drew a shaky breath, "and it's not 'if', but 'when', we get back."

Hercules chuckled at Iolaus' insistent confidence that they would prevale over all their adversity and would successfully complete their assigned task. Personally, he still wasn't all that sure they were going to make it...but the bravado was reassuring. Rewrapping rags around the rope burns on his palms, Herc turned the subject to the question of what they would do next. "We've run out of rope, haven't we?"

"Yeah...we need to try to dislodge the grappling hook." Herc gazed sightlessly toward Iolaus, conveying without words his profound doubts that this effort would be successful, but then he simply nodded. When Iolaus grabbed his cape to anchor him, Hercules leaned out from the wall, reached up and exerted his considerable strength in flipping the rope in a motion that would continue up it's length and, hopefully, dislodge the grappling hook.

To his immense surprise, and silent gratification, it worked! Upon reflection, as he recalled the faith he had had in the hook holding as he braced against the rope during their descent, he wasn't sure that he was pleased it had been dislodged so easily. The grappling hook sailed out from the wall and fell past them down the mountain. Hercules pulled the rope back, length by length, until the hook was brought back up to their ledge and into his hand. Herc felt Iolaus take the hook from his hand and then bend to anchor it in the boulders beside them on the ledge. He heard Iolaus hiss as he straightened up...pain? Iolaus had not uttered a word of complaint since they had started out that morning...and, in his own singleminded focus on the task at hand, Herc had forgotten that Iolaus was not yet in very good shape. Concerned, he gripped his friend's shoulder, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sure, Herc, I'm fine...cold, tired...but, then what else is new. We need to keep going."

"How far do you think we need to go today?" Herc liked being on something flat and solid...he was not anxious to step back over nothingness again...but, he knew it was inevitable. They couldn't stay on this ledge.

"We need to try for the ledge where we camped on our fourth night out...ready to go?"

"No!" Herc blurted, but reached out anyway to get a firm grip on the rope and stepped back to the edge. "You're sure that hook is wedged..."

"It'll hold, don't worry."

"Don't worry, he says," Herc mumbled in feigned irritation...well, mostly feigned...part of him was very unhappy with Iolaus for pushing him to...well, he wouldn't think about it. Forcing the fear aside, he stepped back and down, feeling again for the next foothold, feeling Iolaus leaning back against him, stepping back and down at the same time.

They didn't talk on the descent, both just concentrated on the next step and the next. Herc lost track of time...in the dark, he'd lost his reference points. He only became aware of specifics when he realized that they had once again reached the end of the rope, and braced on a narrow ledge, he had again jerked it free. Iolaus had reanchored it and they had resumed the descent. He couldn't tell what time it was, how much daylight might be remaining, whether night had already fallen. He could tell it was getting colder, so he assumed the sun was either setting or was being blocked by clouds. The wind had picked up and was lashing them with increased fury. His face, hands, arms, feet and legs were numb with cold. He wasn't sure how much longer he could retain his grip on the rope...he'd noticed it slipping in the last few minutes.

Herc was also conscious that Iolaus was leaning more and more heavily upon him, that Iolaus was having trouble finding his own footholds as his feet scuffled against the cliff face. Herc paused in the descent, looped the rope around one wrist for a more secure hold and moved his other arm down and around Iolaus, to secure him more tightly against his chest. He could feel a wetness on Iolaus' cloak but assumed it was from melted snow and ice...Iolaus was brushing against the icy rock wall constantly as they inched down the cliff.

"Why have we stopped?" Iolaus asked. He sounded completely drained.

"I needed a breather...and a sense of where we are. Can you see the ledge yet...are we close?"

Iolaus craned his head around to look down the rock face. He felt the usual vertigo and it was only his concerted focus on the mountain wall that allowed him to maintain a sense of perspective. The light was beginning to fail as dusk fell...he hadn't noticed that the sun was almost down. Scanning the wall, he spotted the ledge about twenty feet below and sighed with relief. He didn't know if he could go on much longer today. The exertion had torn open the wounds on his hip and leg and they were both bleeding freely...had been for some time.

"It's not far now...another five, ten minutes we should be there...it's straight down below us."

"Okay," Herc replied as he started down again...but he kept one arm around Iolaus. He could tell his friend was fading fast. Minutes later, they were on the ledge. Iolaus helped Herc to position himself safely against the mountain wall, away from the ledge and was fumbling to untie the knot in the rope so that he could move more freely in setting up their camp. His whole body felt frozen and he felt as if his field of vision as narrowing...he was about to pass out. Taking a couple of deep breaths, he forced back the darkness, turned to Herc for the packs and began pulling the blankets out of the bags.

"Sorry, Herc," he mumbled, "there's no wood here...should have left some, I guess, on the way up...I wasn't thinking...but, there's snow on the ledge, so at least we have our water substitute! No food left, either, other than a few pieces of jerky..." Reaching out, he took Herc by the hand and guided him to the blanket he had placed on the ground. Herc slid his back down the wall and unrolled the bearskin. They each loosened their cloaks and placed them over the second blanket, under the bearskin, to maximize the warmth. It was when they'd laid down, as usual with Iolaus facing out toward the ledge and Herc against the wall, curled around him, that Herc reached his arm around Iolaus to draw him close...it was then that Herc felt the wetness again and knew it wasn't snow.

"Iolaus, you're bleeding."

"I know...it's not bad...don't worry about it." Herc wasn't buying it. Leaning up on one elbow, he gently pulled Iolaus onto his back and then, using his sense of touch, he explored the wounds he'd become so familiar with over the last several days. Iolaus tried to brush his hand away, but he didn't have the strength left for much resistance. It was hard just to stay awake...he was so cold...he just wanted to sleep. He needed to rest...it would be better in the morning...sleep...

Hercules could tell that Iolaus had lost consciousness...his body lost all it's tenseness. He was alarmed to find that all of the wounds seemed to be seeping and the hip and leg wounds seemed to be bleeding heavily. He groped around to find their packs and once he had them, he dug around in them to find the last of the rags. He cursed his awkwardness as he tried to change the dressings by touch, applying pressure first to the hip and then to the leg, to try to stem the blood flow. After a time, it seemed his efforts were working...he laid back down, pulled Iolaus against him and gave way to his own exhaustion.

When Hercules woke, he didn't know if it was day or still the middle of the night...his personal darkness had not changed. Iolaus was still asleep and Herc decided not to wake him. Laying back, he tried to sense his surroundings...and he became aware of the warmth on his face. The sun must be well up...it was time to move on. Herc gently shook Iolaus' shoulder to rouse him...but Iolaus mumbled and resisted. "Tired, Herc...just want to sleep..."

"C'mon, Iolaus, we have to keep going." Herc took the opportunity to check the dressings...there was some dampness, but the heavy bleeding had stopped. Without sight, he couldn't tell anything more about the condition of the wounds. "C'mon, wake up...you can't quit on me now. It was your idea, remember, to climb down this mountain. Wake up!"

Iolaus mumbled his way back to a reluctant consciousness. Gods, he felt awful. Grimly, he pushed the weakness aside, and using sheer strength of will, he levered himself up and began pushing the blankets into the packs. He helped Herc with his cloak and put his own on. They had again reached the end of their rope...literally. "Herc, it's time to shake the grappling hook loose again."

Herc nodded, took the rope from Iolaus and attempted the same manoeuvre as they had used twice the day before...with less gratifying results. After several tries, they both had to admit that the hook was not going to come loose this time. Iolaus pulled out his knife and cut enough rope from the end to tie them together again. Today they would be free climbing and he would have to help Herc find the handholds. It was going to be a very, very long day. They had to get down on their hands and knees, to ease backwards off the ledge. As they began the descent, Iolaus placed his hands over Herc's and moved them from one hold to the next.

Herc had never, ever had to trust anyone so completely in his whole life. He had no idea where he was beyond knowing that he was clinging to the side of a mountain...actually, clinging would be easier than having to constantly release his hand holds and be guided to the next. Sometimes, Iolaus would let go of one hand to reach and test the next rock, to make sure it would hold when Hercules put their weight upon it.

The good news was that the lower they climbed, the warmer the air got so they didn't have to fight the bone aching, numbing cold. The bad news was that they were both weaker...lack of water, of food, of sufficient rest...the accumulated exhaustion from injuries and from the rigors of the climb...it was all taking a toll. Herc was particularly worried about Iolaus. He was pretty sure that the bleeding had started again...he could tell, as the day worn on, that Iolaus could not go on much longer.

Finally, sometime around midafternoon, they reached the bottom of the rock face and were on the edge of the forest. They stopped briefly to catch their breath and Iolaus, unable to manage disentangling the knotted rope, took his knife and cut the rope in two. They'd made it off the mountain...now all they had to do was find water, find food, rest and, eventually, find their way back to the Academy. Piece of cake. Right.

Realizing they couldn't sit there forever, Herc finally stood up and reached down to give Iolaus a hand up. They might not be tied together, but it was clear that Iolaus needed a lot of support...and Herc needed to be led. In some respects, this part of the trek was even harder on Iolaus. Coming down the mountain, he could rest against Herc's strength, he didn't need to support himself. But now, he had to stand, and walk. He also had to talk, warning Hercules of obstacles like low branches or logs that needed to be stepped over.

Iolaus remembered that there had been a stream not far into the forest, maybe about an hour's walk. By the time they finally got there, Hercules was practically carrying him as he did little more than stumble along. Iolaus was fighting off the blackness on the edges of his vision with every fibre of his being. If he passed out before they got to water, they could both die...Hercules just wouldn't be able to get through the dense bush by himself. He heard the stream before he could see it, and the fact of it's close proximity gave him the extra burst of energy needed to carry on. When they finally reached it, he sank gratefully to the ground while Herc rummaged in their packs for their remaining waterskin. While Herc felt his way to the water, essentially crawling forward and then back with the filled skin, Iolaus used the last remaining vestiges of his energy to pull out the flint to strike a fire with the twigs he could gather within arm's reach.

Herc followed the sound of his breathing and found him sprawled on the ground beside the fire. Herc pressed the waterskin into his hands and helped him sit up to drink, then eased him back down. Iolaus scanned the area and spotted bushes with berries and the green shoots of tubers growing under the ground.

"Herc," he murmured, "to your left, about four feet, there's a bush full of berries...and just below it, to the right, you'll be able to dig out some vegetables. I'll...I'll set some snares tomorrow...".

Meanwhile, Herc was checking out the dressings on Iolaus' wounds...and he could tell there was serious bleeding again. Also, he had noted that Iolaus' skin was dry and hot to the touch...infection was setting in again.

"Iolaus, we have to fix you up before you go to sleep...stay with me here. I can't tell...how bad are you bleeding...and where is the infection?"

"Tomorrow, Herc, we can take care of it tomorrow..."

"No, Iolaus, come on, stay awake...just a little longer." To emphasize his words, Hercules again pulled Iolaus into a sitting position. Too tired to resist, Iolaus moaned softly against the pain and exhaustion.

"Okay, okay," he sighed and he reached for the packs to pull out the herbs and salve. When he pulled the blood soaked bandages off his hip and leg, he groaned at the extent of the damage. Both wounds had torn badly and the leg was showing distinct signs of infection. He'd have to stop the bleeding...damn, this was going to hurt. Pulling his knife from his belt, he stuck it into the fire.

"You're right, Herc, as usual," he muttered as he put salve on the wounds on his neck, side and ribs. Iolaus wasn't going to rebandage these injuries...they had reached a stage of healing when they could be left open to the air. In a dull, almost clinical voice, he explained to Hercules what he was doing. "The hip and leg are in pretty bad shape...the leg's infected and both of them are torn pretty bad. I'm going to have to cauterize them both again, to stop the bleeding...here, give me your hands." When Hercules reached out, Iolaus placed the packet of herbs in one hand and the more or less clean dressings from his shoulder, ribs and neck into his other hand.

"Okay," Iolaus continued, "now, let me lean back against you while I do this...I might black out and you'll have to do what you can to finish dressing the wounds...ready?" When Hercules nodded, Iolaus put a twig in his mouth to bite down upon, pulled the knife from the fire and, bracing himself back against Hercules, choking back the screams in his throat, he first treated his leg and then his hip. Herc held him as Iolaus shuddered against the pain of the redhot knife. Finished, Iolaus spat out the twig as he dropped the knife on the ground beside him...and then he gave way to the blackness.

Herc eased him down to the ground, and then felt around for where he'd laid down the herbs and the rags. "Fine pair we make," he sighed as he did the best he could...gods, would his vision never come back? Once he was done dressing the wounds as best he could, he felt around for the packs, pulled out the blankets and draped them over Iolaus. Deciding that he was also more tired than hungry, he took a long pull from the waterskin and put off scrounging for food until later. He felt around for the bearskin, and finding it, put it over Iolaus and then crawled in under it beside his unconscious friend and surrendered himself to the oblivion of sleep.

The next three days passed in a kind of blur. When Hercules woke up, he ate some berries, roused Iolaus enough to at least get him to drink, and then he found the soiled dressings, took them to the stream to rinse them and brought them back to dry by the fire. He found sticks to put on the fire, to keep it alive. It was a trick to get the kindling into the flames without burning himself...he did better with experience, learning to judge the distance from the flames by the amount of heat he felt on his hands. He dug up some tubers and roasted them...and again burned his fingers getting the food into and out of the fire.

Iolaus drifted in and out of a feverish delirium...he kept muttering, as if he was talking to Artemis, telling her that they couldn't...she couldn't ask... At one stage, on the second day, he was alert enough to struggle up and set a few snares outside of the camp. The next day, he found that he had caught a rabbit and they had fresh meat for the first time in a week. From time to time, one or the other of them would check Iolaus' wounds and change the dressings. On the fourth day, Hercules rummaged in the packs and found the fishing line and hooks...or, at least the hooks found him. Biting back a curse, he pulled a hook from his finger and managed to secure it to the fishing line. He then went back to the stream and sometime later was rewarded with a fish. He took great care gutting it, not wanting to take off a finger or two by accident. Once again, he singed his fingers getting the cooked fish off the fire. But, mostly, they slept. Fifteen days of their month had expired.

**Chapter Four: Tests of Friendship**

On the sixteenth day, Iolaus woke feeling stronger and more alert than he had since they had come off the mountain. He looked around and saw Hercules sitting quietly by the fire, his face drawn and white with worry and fatigue. Herc's fingers were red and sore...from the fire, the hooks, digging around in the dirt to find tubers, feeling his way over the rocky ground...in general, just using his hands for eyes...and they weren't great substitutes...It had been taking most of Herc's energy just to keep the insipient terror lurking in the back of his mind at bay. He had been blind for six days...although, to him, it seemed almost a lifetime. For two of those days, he had clung to the side of a mountain. For the other four, he had worried himself sick about not being able to help Iolaus, not knowing whether Iolaus would live or die...and not knowing what he would do if Iolaus wasn't there, if Iolaus never woke up.

"Herc?" Iolaus called, "how long have I been out?"

Herc's face brightened at the strong sound of Iolaus' voice...he was better, thank the gods. "How am I supposed to know, Iolaus...it's all one long night to me."

Iolaus winced, hearing the weariness, the hopelessness, in Herc's voice. "No change?" he asked and Hercules just silently shook his head. "I'm sorry, Herc...it must be awful..."

Hercules gave him a wry half smile and replied, "Better now, that you're awake...you sound like you're feeling better. You had me really worried, Iolaus."

Iolaus grunted as he sat up and began to examine the wounds. Relieved, he reported to his friend, "Yeah, they look a lot better today, Herc...no infection and most are almost healed." He didn't mention that the hip and leg wounds still looked raw...there was no point in making Hercules feel any worse than he already did.

"Great!" Hercules sighed in relief. "Does that mean we can start back to the Academy in a day or two?" When Iolaus didn't answer immediately, Hercules continued, "I mean, you could probably use another day or two to regain your strength...and we could use the time to catch up on that journal that Chiron wanted us to keep. The last time I made any entries was before we started up the mountain...do you think that a hundred soldiers could have made that climb...although, it would have been good to have some back up when we met up with that bear..."

"Hercules, stop, you're babbling." Iolaus interjected. It was highly unusual for Hercules to run on and on. Iolaus looked more closely at his friend and saw the deep lines of strain around his eyes and mouth...the tension in his body. He got up and moved over to sit next to Hercules, taking a moment to throw some sticks onto the fire. Finished that, he reached over and took one of Herc's hands in his own, and then the other, to examine the fingers. Herc flinched when Iolaus touched him, startled, but then understood what Iolaus was doing.

"Your hands are a mess, Hercules," Iolaus began, but rushed on when he felt Herc stiffen in anxiety, "but, they look worse than they are...you'll heal." Hercules relaxed a bit. Iolaus rummaged in a sack and found the salve...not much of it left. He hadn't imagined that they would need so much when they had packed for this trip. He washed Herc's hands with water from the waterskin, using one of the rags he had found drying by the fire, and then smoothed the salve over Herc's tender fingers and gently massaged it into the skin.

"This has been really hard on you, hasn't Herc?" Iolaus asked softly as he worked.

Herc swallowed hard against the terror that again threatened to break loose. "I...I couldn't help you...and I didn't know if you'd...wake up...I've lost track of the days...I hate this, Iolaus," he finally murmured, his voice tight, "I hate being helpless...I hate this blackness..."

Finished with the hands, Iolaus stood and gently pulled Hercules to lean against his body, his hands supporting Herc's shoulders against his legs. "I know, Herc...I can't imagine how you've managed so well...I haven't been much help to you."

Neither of them wanted to talk about the blindness...it had been going on too long. Iolaus did not want to make empty promises that Herc would be okay...promises that he knew Herc would resent and reject. They'd just have to take it a day at a time...there was always hope...a chance...maybe.

"Iolaus," Herc began again, more strongly, "when do you think we can head back to the Academy?" He didn't say it, but there was a healer at the Academy...maybe she would know what to do to help him. Iolaus' hands tightened on his shoulders as Iolaus knelt back down beside him. "Iolaus, is there something wrong?"

"Hercules," Iolaus began, not quite knowing how to say this, knowing that Herc would think he was crazy...and maybe he was. "Hercules," he started again, "before we go back to the Academy, there's something I have to do."

"What? What's wrong?" Herc asked, with a sense of dread...he didn't like the sound of Iolaus' voice.

"I have to go back up the mountain."

At first, Hercules was stunned, speechless. What was Iolaus talking about? Then, he turned and gripped Iolaus' arms with his hands, his face turned toward his friend, wishing desperately that he could see his eyes. "_**ARE YOU CRAZY? **_What do you mean you have to go back up the mountain?"

"I think it's part of what we were sent here to do...part of the test." Iolaus tried to keep his voice calm and steady. The thought of going back up that mountain, of facing that bear again, terrified him. What was worse, the thought of Hercules alone, blind in the wilderness, helpless if he failed, terrified him even more.

"Iolaus, I don't understand. What are you talking about?" Herc asked, bewildered.

"Hercules, the last few days, I kept dreaming I was talking with Artemis..." Iolaus began.

"I know," Herc interjected, "I heard you calling her name, arguing with her...almost pleading with her...but, she wasn't really here, Iolaus. If she had been, I would have..." Hercules stopped as he was about to say 'seen her', when he realized that, of course, he couldn't really know if Artemis had been there or not... "heard her," he finally concluded. He hadn't heard Artemis' voice...and surely he would have if she had been talking to Iolaus.

"I don't know if she was really here, or if she came to me in my dreams...but, well, she told me that she had asked Chiron to send us here."

"Why would she do that? And, why would Chiron agree?" Herc demanded...this was just too weird.

"I don't know why he agreed...does it matter now? I only know that she asked for his best cadets to be sent...to kill the Snow Bear...and he sent us." Iolaus watched Hercules for his reactions. Herc had evidently decided just to listen...he cocked one eyebrow signalling both skepticism and that Iolaus should continue.

"Herc, you remember the stories...that the Snow Bear is the incarnation of Orion, the Hunter?" Hercules nodded, still not saying anything. "Well, it's not an incarnation exactly, more of a prison. You see, Orion and Artemis were lovers and Orion began to aspire to be more than a mortal. Hera," Hercules curled his lips in distaste at the sound of her name, "became infuriated with Orion's arrogance...that he dared to aspire to immortality. So, because he had been the greatest hunter who had ever lived, she condemned him to live within the body of an animal, an animal that would be preyed upon by other hunters. She chose the body of a bear to torment Artemis because the bear is her unique symbol. Orion's spirit could only be freed if the bear was killed. Because Hera hated him so much, she created a bear that was monstrous, believing, I guess, that no one would ever be able to successfully destroy it." Iolaus paused.

"Is that it?" Herc asked, "Because, if it is, I still don't see why you have to go back up the mountain."

"No, there's more. To taunt Orion, and Artemis, with hope, Hera decreed that once the Snow Bear had been bested not once, but twice, by the same hunter...then, Orion could be freed from his prison and...Hera would grant him immortality. When we killed the Snow Bear, Orion's spirit was freed temporarily...but Hera just recreated the Snow Bear and trapped him within it again...Artemis loves him, Herc...she begged me to go back, to kill the bear a second time." Iolaus could see Hercules struggle against anger.

"So, let me get this straight. To heal a goddess' broken heart and to save an arrogant hunter who aspires to immortality, you'd leave me here, alone...and risk your life again. Iolaus, that bear almost killed you! If you fail, if that bear, or the mountain, does kill you this time, it means that I'll die too...I can't get back to the Academy without you." Hercules hoped that an appeal that tugged at Iolaus' concern for him would stop him from going on what Herc believed to be nothing more than a suicide mission.

"No...you'd be alright. Artemis promised me that she would get you back to the Academy."

"And, you _believed_ her?" Hercules spat out with contempt...he didn't have much use for the gods and had no confidence that any of them would ever keep their word to a mortal. They used mortals for their own ends.

Iolaus looked helplessly at Hercules. Should he tell him about Artemis' other promise? No, if Herc ever thought he was doing this for him, he'd never let Iolaus risk it. Better that Herc should think Iolaus a fool, than feel guilt if ... well, if he failed.

"I'm sorry, Herc," murmured Iolaus, "I know you think I'm crazy..."

"Well, you're right about that, at least!" Hercules almost snarled in his frustration.

"but, I think this is part of the test...Chiron sent us knowing what Artemis wanted of us."

"Test? DAMN THE TEST! Iolaus...this is ridiculous...how can you even be sure that she did tell Chiron what she wanted?"

"You don't understand, Herc," Iolaus was almost whispering, "I have to do this."

"No, I don't understand." Hercules, who had still been holding Iolaus by his arms, was so angry that he practically threw Iolaus away from him, not even noticing Iolaus gasp against the pain in his hip and leg as he landed awkwardly. Hercules stumbled to his feet to storm away, when he realized he couldn't see... couldn't just 'storm off', so he just stood silently, his back to Iolaus, clenching his fists, fighting against his urge to break something.

Iolaus looked sadly up at his friend. If anything killed their friendship, this could be it. He just couldn't tell Herc that he was going up the mountain for his sake. Hercules would never forgive him if he never came back down...and might not forgive him even if he did, because Iolaus would never let him know why he'd taken such risks.

Slowly, Iolaus got back up onto his feet. "I'm going to set some snares," he said softly, "and then we'll do some fishing...I'll leave you enough food to last until I get back."

Hercules just snorted and didn't turn around until he had heard Iolaus leave the campsite. What could Iolaus be thinking of? How could he take this crazy risk? He'd get killed for sure...he could never do this alone. And, for a _goddess_... Hercules sank to the ground and put his face in hands. He would never have believed that Iolaus would abandon him...especially not just to help a goddess sort out her love life. As he calmed down, and thought about this, he realized he was right...Iolaus just wouldn't do this...there had to be something else going on.

When Iolaus got back an hour or so later, Herc was sitting on the bank of the stream, fishing. He seemed relaxed, almost as if nothing had happened. Iolaus was puzzled, and then alarmed as he wondered if Artemis had returned and told Herc about their bargain...but then, Iolaus relaxed again as he realized that this couldn't have happened. Herc wouldn't be fishing peacefully if he'd had that discussion with Artemis...he'd be standing here trying to grab him so that he could shake some sense into Iolaus' thick head. Shrugging, Iolaus pulled another hook and some string from the pack. Tying them together, he cautiously approached Hercules and sat down close by him on the bank.

Herc looked up, "Welcome back...how many snares did you set?"

"Five," Iolaus responded carefully, mystified at his friend's abrupt change in mood.

Herc nodded, "You know, Iolaus, I'm going to be heartily sick of rabbit before this trip is over."

"Herc," Iolaus began, not sure he even wanted to raise the subject of their earlier argument, "are you alright?"

"Sure, I'm fine," Hercules answered peacefully.

"I don't understand," Iolaus admitted.

Herc smiled, turning his face toward his friend. "Iolaus, I just remembered something, that's all...I remembered that you're my best friend, that you would never do anything to hurt me anymore than I would deliberately hurt you...so, there must be something you're not telling me, some reason other than the one you've given me, for going back up that mountain."

"Herc, I..." Iolaus began, not sure of what he could say.

"No, it's alright...you don't have to tell me. I know it must be a good reason...she probably threatened to kill me if you didn't go."

"No, Herc! Artemis made no such threat!" Iolaus could safely, and energetically, deny that thought.

"No matter...it's something that's important...I know that. Iolaus, you know I trust you with my life. So, I have to trust that you have a valid reason for doing this...even if it does seem crazier than anything I have ever heard in my life...and that's good enough for me."

Iolaus blinked back the sudden and unexpected tears...he did not know what he had ever done to earn this strength of friendship...especially from the person who mattered more than anyone else in his life. "Thanks Herc," he muttered, not trusting himself to say anything more.

"So, when do you think you'll be ready to leave?"

"I'm feeling a lot better, Herc...I think I should be able to go tomorrow...that would still leave us a week to get back to the Academy...we could still meet the deadline."

Herc snorted, "The deadline is the least of our worries...who cares." He paused for a moment, and then continued, "So, how did you think you'll kill that beast?"

Iolaus pondered the question...he'd thought a lot about this and had to admit he didn't have a great plan...but, he couldn't think of anything else.

"Well," he began, "I didn't really enjoy the results of making a frontal assault." He grinned when he heard Hercules chuckle...it was a very good sign if Herc could laugh about those terrifying moments. "Chiron has always taught us that we need to plan our campaigns well...the last time didn't go so great because we hadn't really known what to expect."

Herc snorted again, "Admit it, Iolaus, you just never believed that the Snow Bear was real."

Iolaus had to agree...his own arrogance and over confidence had almost led them into disaster. "I know, Herc, and I was wrong. Anyway, I noticed when we began our climb down that the earthquake seemed to have loosened the rocks supporting the snow cap on the pinnacle. I think they could be dislodged and, well, assuming I could lure the bear to the foot of the pinnacle, I could start an avalanche that would crush him."

Hercules thought about it for awhile. If what he could recall of their first climb was correct, he thought that it could be possible to avoid the plateau and continue the climb up onto the pinnacle itself. And, it was steep enough that the bear probably would not be able to climb up after them. Finally, he nodded, "Sounds like you have a plan," was all he said.

They fished quietly for much of the rest of the day. Towards evening, Iolaus went out to check his snares and found five rabbits...it was nice when a plan came together. As he skinned and gutted the rabbits and then set them to roast on the fire, he reflected that, with the fish they had caught, he was leaving plenty of meat for Herc. While the rabbits were roasting, he hunted out more tubers and then gathered plenty of sticks for the fire. Finally, he filled the waterskin in preparation for leaving in the morning...he would have liked to have left it for Herc, but it would be four or five days on the mountain, climbing up and then back down, and he would need water.

Hercules listened to Iolaus as he puttered around the camp, smiling quietly to himself when he realized that Iolaus was doing everything he could to make the next days easier for him...and then frowning as he heard a muttered, mostly suppressed groan every once in a while. Iolaus wasn't being entirely candid about the state of his health. Hercules wondered if Iolaus really thought he would ever make it back down the mountain. They hadn't said anything more about it, but both knew very well that this second attempt could prove fatal. What could Artemis be holding over him?

After they had eaten, they sat companiably by the fire. Iolaus stared at the stars for a while and then smiled slowly as he contemplated his friend. Well, if this was to be the last day they ever spent together, at least it had been a pretty good one...if he didn't come back, Herc would have these memories at least...and Iolaus really did believe that Artemis would honour her word to get Herc back to the Academy. Shifting to ease his hip and leg, he didn't even realize that he had unconsciously moaned softly when he moved.

"It still hurts, doesn't it Iolaus?" Herc enquired softly.

"Just a bit stiff is all...nothing to worry about." Iolaus denied the sharp discomfort.

Herc nodded quietly... "You've never let pain stop you, have you, Iolaus...never, not even when you were a kid...and you've never been willing to admit to it, either."

"It's nothing, Herc...don't worry about it." Iolaus responded...the conversation was moving in a direction he didn't want to go.

Hercules mused about this for a while. "You know, I always thought it was because...well, because you didn't want to admit...how often your father beat you...or how much you were hurting after he did. Why did you always feel you had to hide that, Iolaus? I never did understand."

Iolaus stared at Hercules, stunned. His friend never, ever ventured into these kind of difficult waters...he had never challenged Iolaus' patently obvious lies about falling down hills or walking into trees, never in all the years they had known one another. "Herc, I'm not sure I want to talk about this..."

"No surprise there...you never have wanted to talk about it...why Iolaus...did you blame yourself? Think it was your fault? Did you think I wouldn't understand?"

Iolaus swallowed...he had thought it had been his fault when he was a kid. He knew his father had been disappointed in him...he felt he'd failed his dad, that he had deserved what he got. He knew, now, of course, that he'd been wrong. His father had been a brutal, maybe even sick, man...and the scars he'd left weren't just physical.

"Herc, why do you want to talk about this now?" Iolaus asked softly.

Herc turned his face toward his friend. "Iolaus, you're planning to go up that mountain alone tomorrow...and we both know that the odds of you coming back down again are not great. You've never lied to me, not in all our lives, except about this...sometimes you don't always tell me the whole truth, but you never lie." Herc paused for a moment before continuing, marshalling his thoughts. "I guess I just thought it was time to let you know that I knew...that I've always known...and that I wished that you would have trusted me more...let me help you. It was never your fault that he hurt you the way he did...you know that."

Iolaus signed, "I know that now...I guess I wasn't so clear back then. When I was a kid, I did feel I deserved it, even if I didn't really understand why...especially because my mother hardly ever intervened to stop him...I mean, if I didn't deserve it, wouldn't she have...have..." his throat closed in memory. After a moment, he continued. "I guess I was afraid that if you ever knew I was that bad, that I needed to be..beaten like that... you might hate me...I didn't ever want you to hate me, Herc..."

Hercules smiled sadly, as he responded softly, "Hate you, Iolaus? I could have never hated you...I thought then that you were the bravest, strongest person I knew...I still do."

Tears stung Iolaus' eyes as he realized what Herc was doing...he was trying to say goodbye, giving him a last message of friendship, in case he didn't return. "Thanks, Herc," he responded, when he could trust himself to talk, "you don't know how much that means to me...You've always been my best friend, and I knew you were always there for me...it helped then...and it helps now." Turning away, as if he was settling down to sleep, he whispered to himself, "and I would do anything for you...anything."

"Good night, Iolaus," Herc called from the other side of the fire.

"Night, Herc," Iolaus responded...and they drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Iolaus was awakened by Hercules moving about the camp, trying to be quiet but foiled in his efforts by the awkwardness caused by his blindness. Stretching, Iolaus turned over and then stared in disbelief at what he was seeing. Herc had one pack already stuffed with the food, wood, his own blanket and cloak. He was busy stuffing the other one with the rest of their gear. The bear rug was neatly rolled to one side. "Herc? What are you doing?"

Herc looked up in his direction and smiled, "Sorry, Iolaus, did I wake you? Is it morning? I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd get started with this."

"Answer my question, Herc...why have you packed everything up? You'll need the food and the wood..."

"Yeah, I know...that's why I thought I should get it packed up."

Gradually, realization dawned. "No, Hercules, no...you're not coming with me." Iolaus' voice was firm...there was no way he was going to allow Hercules to risk going back up the mountain when he couldn't see. It was lunacy to even consider it.

"Actually, Iolaus, I am going with you...I know I'll slow you down a bit...but, I'm going." Herc's voice was equally firm.

"Herc, that's just crazy! Why would you even consider such a thing?"

"I don't think we have any choice."

"What? Why not?" Iolaus couldn't believe he was even engaging in this conversation.

"Well, if I understand what Artemis told you, the Snow Bear has to be killed by the same hunter twice. Technically, I killed it, so I have to do it again if Orion is to be released."

Iolaus just stared at him, not sure now what to say. Herc was right.

"And, besides, while I think your plan to start an avalanche is a good one...you couldn't do that on your own. Sorry, Iolaus, you just don't have the strength...and, well, finally...Chiron gave us both this assignment and I think we should stick together until it's done. If you're going up there, then so am I."

"When did you decide this?"

"Last night, after we finished talking...I realized that I had to go with you." Hercules replied calmly.

"LAST NIGHT! and, you didn't bother to say anything then!" stormed Iolaus.

Herc just grinned pleasantly, refusing to rise to the challenge of an argument. "If I'd said anything you would have spent the whole night arguing with me...or you might have tried to sneak off without me."

Iolaus just shook his head. "Hercules," he tried more calmly, "it's just too difficult...it's too dangerous for you...how do you expect to climb up the mountain?"

"The same way we climbed down, in tandem. You'll climb with me and show me where to put my hands...at least until we get to the rope. At that point, I'll be able to use it for the most part to pull us up."

"You _can't_ be serious." Iolaus whispered.

The smile faded from Herc's face as he thought about what lay ahead. If he was honest, he would admit that the idea of going back up that mountain terrified him...he still had nightmares about coming back down in the blackness. But, he trusted Iolaus to guide him...and he knew, that with his injuries, if Herc didn't go to support him, Iolaus probably would never make it up, let alone back down. He still hadn't recovered well enough to do this on his own, and Herc knew it. There was no way that he was going to let Iolaus do back up there alone.

"I am very serious, Iolaus...and don't think that you can just take off and leave me. I swear I will follow you if I have to crawl. You know it would be a lot more dangerous for me to do this without you than with you...but, I'm going, one way or the other. We always promised each other...back to back...remember?"

Iolaus sat back and stared at him. He believed Hercules...they were equally stubborn and he probably would have done the same in his position. It was crazy...but, what the hell...it looked like he didn't have any choice.

"Alright, Herc," he sighed, "we'll leave after breakfast." Herc just smiled in triumph...felt his way around the camp until he could touch the edge of Iolaus' blanket and then jerked it playfully from under his friend, folding it up neatly to stuff in the bag. Iolaus couldn't resist giggling...it was definitely the craziest thing they had ever considered doing together...but, damn, he was glad to have Hercules going with him.

It had to have been the climb from hell. The easy part had been guiding Hercules back through the forest and then up the gentler slopes, helping him scramble up and over rocks. The hard part began after he had tied them together and they had begun the free climb. He could tell that Hercules was afraid...he could feel the tension in his friend's body, see it in his face and hear it in the strained tones of Herc's voice...but, Herc never hesitated...just blindly followed him...trusted him. Iolaus tested every grip before placing Herc's hand on outcrops of stone or guiding his fingers into niches in the rock wall. He looked down, between them and the rock, finding footholds for Herc's feet, talking him to them, and then finding footholds for his own. It was like climbing twice...and it was exhausting. By the time they reached the ledge of their first camp site, Iolaus had nothing left, his hip and leg were aching with the exertion of the day. Once they'd climbed up onto the ledge, Iolaus nudged Herc back against the wall where he'd be safe, untied the rope that bound them together, and then collapsed in a heap at his feet, too tired to stand.

Hercules didn't say anything, just reached into one of the packs to pull out a blanket and dropped it down in the direction of Iolaus' head. "Thanks Herc," Iolaus mumbled, "Just give me a minute and I'll get a fire going."

"No rush, Iolaus, take your time." Sitting down beside Iolaus, Herc began pulling the supplies they needed out of the packs...wood, food, the other blanket, the cauldron and tripod and then he pulled the waterskin from his shoulder and laid it on the ground beside them...he was getting good at doing things with his hands...and he'd placed everything in easy reach for Iolaus. Finished with his chores, Hercules leaned gratefully back against the side of the mountain. Gods, this was exhausting...and tomorrow would be worse.

The two friends fell asleep almost before they had finished eating. The next morning found them stiff, aching...and cold. The temperature had fallen during the night and the wind had picked up. Iolaus was sure he could smell snow in the air. Just what they needed. Iolaus knew that some people pictured Tartarus as a place of endless fire and burning...but, for him, after this 'adventure', the Tartarus of his imagination would always be a place of endless cold, bone chilling, numbing, aching cold. The only good news was that they had reached the end of the rope they had left hanging on the mountain side. Iolaus guided Herc's hands to it and together they pulled on it, testing it with their combined weight. It held. Maybe things were looking up. After breakfast, after packing up their gear and tying themselves together, Hercules gripped the rope and, guided by Iolaus' voice, found the first footholds of the day. He could feel Iolaus find his own grip on the rock, find his own footholds and then they began the climb.

The wind buffeted them mercilessly and, despite the rags Herc had wrapped around his hands, it wasn't long before his palms were burning and the rest of his hands were numb with cold. Iolaus had been shivering already when they'd first started the climb...and he shivered all day. Herc could feel the shudders rack his body every time Iolaus leaned back onto his chest as Iolaus looked down between them to find the footholds or reached up to find his own handholds. Twice during the day, for heartstopping moments, they'd slipped several feet before Herc again found his grip on the rope and was able to stop their slide into oblivion. Well, he thought, at least this time Iolaus didn't have to worry about him looking down...he never had any idea where they were, of what was above them or of what was below. There was only the rope, the feel of Iolaus against him and the rock beneath his feet...and the wind. At one point, he became aware of soft, cold touches on his face and he realized it had begun to snow...he sighed with resignation and continued the climb. Whatever the reason was that Iolaus had for making this trip necessary, Herc really hoped that it was a very, very good one.

Iolaus wasn't entirely sure anymore if he cared if they made it or not. His whole body felt frozen. The agony radiating from his right hip and leg was such that he could no longer lift that leg...he certainly could no longer trust it to put his weight on it. So, he hung from his hands and trusted the rope that held him to Hercules each time he lifted his left foot from the face of the mountain to find a higher foothold.

Neither of them spoke, except for Iolaus' continued words of guidance about where Herc should put his feet...or of warning when they were reaching a particularly steep, difficult area. As the day wore on, his voice became hoarse and sometimes Herc had to strain to hear him over the wind. Finally, finally, they made it to the narrow ledge with the chimney. Once they were standing on the ledge, Herc leaned forward with one hand to steady himself against the wall, and with the other he helped ease Iolaus to the ground. He pulled the packs and the waterbag off his shoulders and dragged out the blankets, unrolled the bearskin. After they drank some water, they curled up under their shelter from the wind, too tired to even light a fire. In moments, they were both asleep...they hadn't even bothered to untie the rope that bound them together.

The next morning, Iolaus started a fire and they had tea to warm them before they started the day. This would be the day...they would make it to the top and see if they could once again kill the Snow Bear. They had reached the grappling hook end of the rope and so, before they started their climb, Iolaus steadied Herc as he leaned out and swung the hook out and up, using his strength to give it added distance...just as he had the day before, the first time they had reached the top of the rope. Iolaus had once again guided him...giving him a sense of the direction and distance he was aiming for. It took three tries before the hook finally caught and held. After testing it, they started up on the final stretch to the top.

By midafternoon, they had reached the level of the plateau and had to stop while Iolaus studied the face of the pinnacle, looking for the best spot from which to start the avalanche. This part was not going to be as steep, but Iolaus didn't want to use the grappling hook...the rocks above looked too uncertain...he didn't trust them after the impact of the earthquake. There was also more snow...they would have to go carefully to ensure that they did not inadvertantly dislodge the snowface while they were still on it. While Iolaus studied the mountain top, he kept one eye out for the bear. He could see the footprints in the new fallen snow, so he knew it couldn't be too far away. He wanted them above the level of the plateau before it came back.

"Okay, Herc, I think I see the best route. We'll have to free climb again from here...but it shouldn't be more than an hour...probably less to get to a set of rocks just above a heavy drift of snow above the plateau...the snow looks like it must be sixty feet thick...with the rocks, more than enough for the effect we want. Ready?"

Hercules hated the thought of the free climb...it was bad enough with the rope, but at least it gave him a certain sense of safety...of stability. When they slipped, he could hold onto the rope and keep them from falling far...with no rope, if he slipped, if he missed a foothold...he stopped the thought. Thoughts of falling did not make him feel any better...and, besides, sometime over the past couple of days, he had gone beyond fear. They would make it, or they wouldn't. At this point, Hercules had actually begun to believe that they might even survive this experience...they had made it this far...they were so close. He nodded as he put one hand on Iolaus' shoulder, "Ready," he responded and the two moved forward to the last leg of the climb.

Once again, Iolaus guided his hands with his own, and with his voice, guided Herc's feet...they had become practiced in their moves over the past two days and the final climb took less time than Iolaus had predicted. Being so close gave them an extra burst of adrenaline...helping them to ignore the cold and granting them extra strength and speed. After little more than half an hour, they were perched on the rocks above those they wished to dislodge and send crashing onto the heavy overhang of snow beneath them.

Now, they just had to wait for the Snow Bear to make it's appearance...waiting was the hardest part. The cold had been bad when they'd been climbing, but the exertion helped them to keep up their body heat...sitting on the top of an ice covered mountain, with no protection from the wind, was an exercise in endurance. If he hadn't feared the instability of the snow below them, Iolaus would have been shouting to attract the attention of the bear. As it was, all they could do was wait.

After about an hour, Herc ventured,"Iolaus, do you think we should untie ourselves...?"

"Why?"

"Well, if one of us slipped..." To be honest, Herc had no idea if, once he had dislodged the rocks below, if the rocks he was perched upon would remain firm...he didn't really want to take Iolaus with him if he fell.

"Naw...it's best if we stay linked," Iolaus responded, pretending he didn't understand the reason for Herc's question, "if I slipped, you wouldn't be able to get yourself back down, and besides, if we're roped, you can grab me if you feel me slipping."

Herc cleared his throat, "And, if I slipped..."

"Well, same thing...once you'd caught yourself, you wouldn't know where you are...and besides, I could help steady you."

"Iolaus..."

Iolaus gripped Herc's arm and stopped him with a low, firm voice, "We've come this far together, Herc...we'll finish this together. Besides...it's too late...here he comes."

The Snow Bear had finally ambled around the edge of the pinnacle just as the sun had begun to dip into the western horizon...The bear raised it's snout into the wind...it must have caught their scent. Curious, it moved toward the wall of the pinnacle of rock and snow, it's eyes searching for the prey it's nose had detected. Once it was in position, Iolaus helped Herc position himself by the rocks he needed to dislodge...the movement finally caught the bear's attention and it raised itself upon onto it's rear legs, roaring out a challenge at them.

"You'd think he'd get lonely and be more friendly to the company that turns up...afterall, it's not the easiest place to get to for a visit," Iolaus quipped.

Herc grunted in amusement as he pushed against the rocks. "He's probably hungry Iolaus...you know...how grumpy ...you get...when...you're...hungry..." and with the last word, the rocks shifted and began to slide. Herc quickly leaned back against the wall to scramble for a handhold...Iolaus was ready and guided Herc's hands with a calm assurance to stony outcrops he'd already chosen. Herc could hear the gathering roar of the avalanche as the rocks and tons of snow broke loose from their place on the mountain. Iolaus was almost cheering in his ear, "It's working, Herc! It's dropping right down on top of him...I can't even see him anymore!"

Miraculously, it seemed their plan was working...Herc had just started to relax when he felt the rocks he was standing on begin to shift. "Iolaus..." he shouted as he grabbed his friend, pulling him close, hoping to shield him somehow in the fall...and then they were sliding down the face of the pinnacle, scraping against the rock face, scrambling for holds that neither could find...falling...falling silently...Iolaus locked in Herc's arms. There was an instant of blinding pain and then...nothing.

**Chapter Five: Lessons Learned**

'Gods, it hurts,' Herc thought as he struggled back from unconsciousness...and, he figured, that meant he was still alive. Even before he was fully awake, he could feel Iolaus lying motionless against his side. Fighting the desire to drift back into oblivion, Hercules opened his eyes...and saw Artemis standing in front of them, a tall, dark skinned man standing beside her. Herc blinked...maybe this was just a dream...he could still see in his dreams. Artemis smiled down at him, "It's real, Hercules...you and Iolaus were successful in killing the Snow Bear for the second time. Orion is finally free and, so, I've kept my part of the bargain."

"Bargain?" Hercules mumbled, struggling to understand.

"Yes, the bargain I made with Iolaus...if he killed the Snow Bear a second time, I promised to restore your sight...didn't he tell you?"

Hercules groaned as he closed his eyes...he should have known. Iolaus had always been reckless but he only took really suicidal chances when Herc's welfare was at stake. If he wasn't already dead, Hercules decided that he would have to kill Iolaus for taking such a stupid chance...and for not telling him. Iolaus. Suddenly, Herc opened his eyes again and, ignoring the pain along his right side, he turned to see how badly Iolaus was hurt. Easing his friend over onto his right arm, Herc felt for broken bones...amazingly, nothing felt broken. Iolaus' face was white, with a bluish tinge from the cold.

"Iolaus?" Herc whispered anxiously...after all they had been through, Iolaus just had to be okay...he just had to be.

Artemis understood her brother's fear...Hercules had had an unbelievably strong attachment to this mortal ever since they had first met and become friends...more than ten years before.

"He'll live, Hercules, don't worry...he's just stunned from the fall. Neither of you have more than bruised your bodies in the fall...painful, I know, but not serious." As she spoke, she held out her hands and the bearskin appeared miraculously in her grasp. She stepped forward and laid the warm covering over them, to shelter them from the wind. She moved her hand again, and a fire sprang up beside them. Artemis stepped back and, putting her hand on Orion's arm, smiled up at him before looking back at Hercules.

"Sleep well, tonight...tomorrow you will begin your journey back to the Academy. When you get there, give Chiron my thanks. He did indeed send his best to aid me in bringing my beloved back to me...I will be eternally grateful to him...and to the both of you." As she finished speaking, the air shimmered around them and they were gone.

"Well, glad to oblige, Artemis...I guess it wouldn't have occurred to you to save the gratitude and just whisk us off this damned mountain instead." Herc sighed...the gods never did seem to understand the simplest things...maybe because they didn't have to deal with them. Cradling Iolaus against his body, Hercules closed his eyes and slept.

The next morning, Iolaus awoke to find Hercules staring down at him. "Finally," Herc said, "I thought you might sleep all day!"

Iolaus started to stretch and stopped, as every muscle in his body protested against any movement whatsoever. "Ouch!" he mumbled and closed his eyes again.

"Oh no, you don't!" Hercules said as he gave Iolaus a gentle shake, "It's time to wake up...we need to get our act together and get off this mountain!"

Iolaus opened his eyes again and looked around. Above them, a rocky scar marred the face of the pinnacle...it looked as if half of it had come down in the avalanche. "We did it?" he asked tentatively... "We killed it?"

"So it seems, my friend, so it seems." Herc tried to keep a stern look on his face as he stared down at Iolaus...who finally met his eyes. Iolaus didn't say anything for a long moment, then...he smiled brilliantly, almost shouting in his joy, "You can see!"

"Uh huh," agreed Herc, still maintaining his stern, 'you've got some explaining to do' look.

Iolaus' smile faltered... "What's wrong?" then, worried, he struggled to a sitting position, "Are you hurt?"

"Not physically."

"Herc, will you tell me what's wrong?" Iolaus exclaimed, confused and not a little worried.

"I had a little talk with Artemis last night before she and Orion took off...they said to thank you by the way."

"Oh...uh, good..." Iolaus wondered how much Artemis had told Hercules...but, from the look on Herc's face, he suspected his buddy had learned about the bargain.

"Oh? Is that all you have to say? Oh?" Herc gave Iolaus a slight shake. "Dammit, Iolaus...why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you would never have agreed to let me try..."

"You're damn right, I wouldn't have...you were ready to come here alone! You could have been killed!" Herc yelled at him...truly alarmed at the risks Iolaus would take on his behalf.

"Yeah," yelled Iolaus right back, "So, what's your point?"

Struggling to regain a semblance of calm, Herc replied, "My _point_ is that it was stupid. My _point_ is that you shouldn't have made such a dangerous bargain. _My point is that I don't want you taking risks like this on my behalf._"

"Well, _stuff_ your _point_...I'll take whatever risks I want...whenever I think it's appropriate to take them!" Iolaus snarled back...then grinned, impishly. "It worked didn't it? Besides, you came back up here with me...and _you _didn't even have a reason."

"I had reasons...I told you my reasons... I had to help kill the bear to end the curse...we were both given this assignment, and I figured we should stay together."

Iolaus sobered as he recalled that day by the stream when Herc had told him he didn't need to know the reason...that he trusted Iolaus, and that was enough. Iolaus heard what Hercules wasn't saying...that Herc wouldn't let him risk his life alone...whether he understood why Iolaus was taking the chances or not.

"Yeah, right, I remember...well, now you know my reason for agreeing to help Artemis...and, c'mon Herc, you gotta admit it was worth it! YOU CAN SEE!" he exclaimed, the grin lighting his face.

Herc shook his head, bemused by this crazy, generous, courageous, irrepressible soul beside him...and he could not restrain his own smile as he replied, "Yeah...thanks Iolaus." Herc reached out and hugged Iolaus, practically crushing him.

"Oommphh," mumbled Iolaus, struggling to get loose, "C'mon, Herc, don't go all mushy on me!" and they both started to laugh hysterically, simply glad to be alive.

Later, after Hercules had finally managed to untie the knot of the rope that had bound them together, they ate and then packed to head back down the mountain. The day was bright and the wind had died...while it would still be strenuous, the climb down this time would definitely be easier than any of their other treks up and down this mountain side. But, Iolaus grumbled, as he blew on his hands, "It's still too damned cold!"

By the time they had made it off the mountain for the final time, the wounds in Iolaus' hip and leg had opened again and he had lost a far amount of blood. The combination of relief, fatigue and blood loss took it's toll and Iolaus spent the next day in a kind of fog, barely aware of Hercules caring for him...treating the wounds, forcing him to drink. Even after he had become more alert, they had to spend another three days by the stream allowing his body some time to heal before they began the long trek back to the Academy.

On the last day by the stream, bored and restless, Iolaus rummaged in a pack and, from deep in the bottom, pulled out the crumpled journal, the pen and the cake of ink.

"We'll need the next few days just for you to get our notes up to date!" Iolaus stated as he tossed the materials over to Herc on the other side of the fire.

"Me? Why do I always have to make the notes?" Herc complained.

"Because your penmanship is better than mine," replied Iolaus smugly, " and, besides, I'm wounded and weak...I can't be expected to do the chores!"

Hercules snorted, "Wounded and weak, my eye...only, it seems, when it's convenient!...and _your_ penmanship would improve if you ever got any practice!"

Iolaus just grinned as he dug around in the pack again, pulled out a hook and some fishing line and hobbled toward the stream.

"Oh no you don't," exclaimed Herc, following him with the writing materials. "If I have to write, the least you can do is help me decide what to say...you're the one who is never at a loss for words."

Iolaus snickered as they settled on the bank of the stream. "Alright, what do you want to write about?"

Hercules thought about this for a minute... "Well, when he gave us this assignment, Chiron said we had to make tactical and strategic notes as if we were scouting for a hundred men...I guess to find out if we actually paid any attention to those lessions over the years..."

"Frankly," Iolaus intervened, "I think if you just make a few references to having to bring warm gear, lots of rope, fire wood and water up the mountain, we will have enough notes on that subject...oh, and you might mention that there wouldn't be enough room for a hundred men in the cave of the Snow Bear...especially now that half of it collapsed in the earthquake."

"Uh huh," agreed Hercules, as he jotted down these notes. "Done...what else?"

"What else? Nothing else," stated Iolaus, "I guess the homework is done!" Well, he thought in some disgruntlement, that diversion didn't last very long...it would be good to get back on the trail tomorrow. He'd had enough of laying around.

"Well, not quite," Herc disagreed. "Chiron also said the assignment was a kind of quest, to 'learn about ourselves', and to learn about how much 'support we would give our comrades'...so, I guess, we should write some stuff about that."

Iolaus made a face...he just knew this was going to end up being one of those sticky, serious, personal conversations that he loathed...and that Hercules could barely even begin to face. Damn...and the day had started out so well. Giving Herc that journal to complete was turning into a really bad idea. Oh well, if they hurried, maybe they could just get it over with and forget about it. Iolaus sighed...he knew he would have to start.

"Well, let's see," Iolaus mused, "I learned that I should take myths more seriously...not be so quick to discount something I really don't know anything about." Herc nodded as he wrote. "You got that right! Next?"

Iolaus scowled with feigned irritation at Herc's enthusiastic endorsement of this bit of learning. Deciding it wasn't worth even pretending to be irritated when Herc was so obviously right, he waited a moment to see if Herc would volunteer a 'learning' of his own...nothing. Sighing again, Iolaus continued, "I learned that I really, _really _hate the cold...and, I hope I never have to climb another mountain!" Herc grinned, "Iolaus hates the cold and is afraid of heights," he said as he wrote, "Agreed, next?"

Deciding to be offended this time, Iolaus protested, "Hey, I never said I was afraid...I just don't like being that far above simple things like food, water and wood!"

"Okay," Hercules chuckled, beginning to enjoy this, as he stroked out the 'of heights' part of the comment. "Iolaus hates the cold and discovered he is afraid to be too far from food, water and heat!"

Iolaus snorted...when you gave the pen to someone, he guessed you had to allow them _some_ licence for self expression! It was better than doing the writing himself...he'd rather fish. Again he waited for Herc to add his own 'learnings' and, after a few moments, he looked up to see Herc watching him eagerly, pen poised to capture his next insight into how well he 'knew himself'. Sigh.

"Well, let's see...a couple of arrows and a spear won't stop a two ton, twenty-five foot bear that's bent on eating you...only a friend can save you from that!" Iolaus grinned...trying to keep it light...unsuccessfully as he saw a haunted look cross Herc's face. 'Damn! I shouldn't have mentioned the bear,' he thought.

Herc kept writing...for longer than it took to record Iolaus' words. When he looked up, he saw Iolaus watching him, a questioning look on his face. Herc looked away.

"What?" Iolaus put his enquiry into words, still trying to keep the tone light. "Don't tell me you put in something _you_ learned? Care to share?"

Herc looked back down at the page as he mumbled, "I just put in that I learned I shouldn't carry weapons if I can't be sure of controlling my emotions."

"Ah, Herc," Iolaus began...only to be cut off.

"It's _my_ learning, Iolaus..." Herc said with a stiff voice, "next?"

"Well, I learned that my friend is altogether too hard on himself! He needs to lighten up." Iolaus retorted in a huff. Was he ever going to get Herc off this kick of never again carrying weapons? It was just stupid...and more dangerous than occasionally losing control and forgetting his strength.

Hercules dutifully wrote the comment, then sat with his head down. He wasn't going to fight about this. Iolaus wasn't the only one who could be stubborn.

As the silence stretched, Iolaus thought about how terrified Herc had been about maybe having fatally injuring Iolaus...maybe he should just give him space and let Herc get over the crazy notion on his own. Thinking further along the timeline of their 'adventure', he remembered how Herc had thrown himself over Iolaus to protect him from the earthquake...and how brave Herc had been when he'd been blind...risking the climb down the mountain, trusting Iolaus to be his eyes...caring for Iolaus, and himself, for days while Iolaus suffered from fever and weakness...not knowing if Iolaus would recover. Damn, that took real courage.

"But, I guess," he said, as if he had just finished speaking, "to give him credit, I learned my friend not only has more strength than a hundred men...he has more courage as well."

When Herc just looked at him, Iolaus continued, "Well, I don't think _I_ would have tried to climb back down that mountain, let alone back up again, if _I_ was blind. And, then, you took care of me for days...you never gave up. Damn, Herc, that took _real_ guts!"

Herc gave a small grin, recognising the comment as a means to restore peace between them. "Yeah, well, it helped knowing that we had no food, no water and no fire...and that, if I fell, I'd be taking you with me!"

Iolaus laughed. "Great...so write all that down...and make sure that you point out that you are more 'afraid of being without food, water and wood' than you are of climbing down a mountain in the dark!"

Iolaus thought back to the climb down the mountain...and then back up again. "Seriously though," he said more softly, "you really were brave, Herc."

Herc shuddered as he remembered the horror he felt in stepping off the edge of the cliff the first time, without being able to see where he was going...and he remembered how Iolaus had unfailingly guided his every move, notwithstanding his own weakness and pain, because he trusted Herc's strength to keep him safe. "I guess I learned that we can do anything," Herc murmured as he wrote, "...if we do it together, each one relying on the other."

Looking at Hercules, still wanting to make a point about the weapons, Iolaus said, "I learned that my friend would not willingly ever hurt me." Herc grimaced, but he wrote it down. Iolaus paused for a moment, gazing at his friend, then continued, "and...that he knows more, and understands more, about me than I ever thought he did, that he will take care of me when I'm injured...and," he paused, "and, he won't ever give up on me...or stop caring about me...even when he thinks I'm crazy."

Herc had stopped writing, keeping his head down as he listened. When Iolaus stopped, Herc remembered how Iolaus had positioned himself in front of the bear, to give Herc the better chance of survival...and of how Iolaus had been willing to risk facing the bear again to win back his sight.

Herc whispered, "I learned that my friend would risk anything for me...that I can follow him anywhere and that I'm right to trust him with my life...because he will guard it with his own."

Iolaus trembled slightly, moved by Herc's words. Remembering Herc's insistance on following him back up the mountain, even though the thought of doing so while blind had to have been terrifying beyond imagining, Iolaus whispered back, "I learned that my friend will never, ever let me face danger on my own...no matter what."

They sat silently for a time, Iolaus watching Hercules, Herc staring at the journal in his hands. Finally, Iolaus said, "You'd better write some of that stuff down, Herc..." and Herc, nodding, began to write. Finishing, he looked up, "Anything else?"

"Well, let's see," mused Iolaus, "I learned that I don't much like doing favours for the gods...it can be downright dangerous!" he finished with a tone of injured indignation...and then giggled.

Herc couldn't resist grinning back...and before long, the two of them were laughing until they were rolling on the bank and tears ran down their faces. _Downright dangerous,_ indeed...only Iolaus could giggle in the face of a truth like that!

On the evening of the thirtieth day after the cadets had started out on their quests, Chiron stood at the gates of the Academy, waiting for the last two to return. The others had all come back safely, some more subdued than others, some more bruised, but all knowing they had learned more than they had expected to when they had first started off. Only two had not yet returned...Chiron hid the anxiety he felt as he stared impassively out toward the hills as the light began to fade from the sky. Had he been wrong to send them? Were they alright? Just as he was beginning to consider putting together a search party, he saw two figures come over the crest of the hill, one lending support to the other who was limping. Despite the distance, he knew it was Hercules who was supporting Iolaus...but, at least, they were both walking. Chiron relaxed...they were alright. As they got closer, Chiron could see the newly healed cuts and the fading bruises...they had not had an easy time of it.

When they got to the gate, Hercules and Iolaus paused for a moment, to catch their breath and to greet their teacher. Looking deeply into Chiron's eyes, Herc couldn't resist observing, "It might have been helpful if you had given us just a _little _more information about what was going on."

Chiron nodded... "Perhaps...perhaps not...but, did you learn anything from the experience?"

Both Herc and Iolaus gave tired grins, looked at one another and then Iolaus replied for them both, "Everything we think you hoped we'd learn...and probably a bit more." Looking into their eyes, Chiron thought that was no doubt true.

As they all turned to pass through the gates of the Academy, Iolaus turned back with a grin, "By the way, Artemis sends her regards...and her thanks."

Chiron paused at the words and watched the two young cadets limp toward the barracks. He knew, in his heart and mind, that these two men would change the world, would take on impossible odds and defeat the most deadly enemies...at least, he hoped they would always be triumphant. Chiron had taught them skill, had shared with them his knowledge and, he hoped, his wisdom. Now, in giving this last assignment, Chiron had done what he could to give Hercules and Iolaus protection for the future. He could do no more.

'Yes,' Chiron thought, 'Artemis, you should be grateful...I sent the best two men I've ever had at this Academy to find the Cave of the Snow Bear...and to defeat Hera's curse. You have been reunited with Orion, so the two of you will share eternity. In return, remember our bargain...if they were successful in fulfilling the challenge, you agreed to watch over them for the rest of their lives...I'll expect you to keep that bargain.'

Finis


End file.
